Hi guys! First the yucky part: SEEDY STOOLS Ah ha. So I'm not the only one. Paleface has been battling seedy stools for some time now. If anyone receives a response to this problem, please post it on the FML and/or send it to me privately. THE VALLEY FERRET CONNECTION Now I have for you a story of inspiration and success! As I have mentioned in the past, I am a resident of the Pittsburgh, PA area. I've always been envious of the folks with an active, local ferret club, and I had been considering starting one. Unfortunately, the idea has not met with a lot of interest or success. We Pittsburghers are sorta spread out, and we seem to be a very busy lot. So, I just let the idea sit on the back burner for a while. Background, part two. The local petstore (Beaver Valley Mall) is a major source for ferrets in my area. Unfortunately they are extremely unresponsive and rude when offered information or help. I've tried in the past to offer them the Mini-FAQ with no luck. Well, this past weekend, I stopped by, and sure enough they had a bunch of new babies ($160 no less!). In the cage, they had- EEGADS -a rubber ball. I mentioned to the girl at the desk that they might want to remove the rubber toy and replace it with a safer toy. "We watch them," she said. "Besides I give my ferrets rubber toys all of the time." "Yea," another salesgirl chimed in. "The hard rubber is more dangerous anyway. Latex is o.k. It stretches" I could have screamed there and then. Loud. The more I tried to convince them, the ruder they got. I lost this battle. THE IMPORTANT PART! But, (the point of the story) I was inspired. I knew that I had to get information out there some how. The club idea didn't seem to be catching on. But, I am a "Ferret Contact" on Pam's wonderful STAR Ferret Resource List (Thanks, Pam). Why not develop that role/idea!? I have printed up flyers for "The Valley Ferret Connection." I'm going to post them wherever I can, pet stores, vet's offices, grocery stores, etc. My goal is to act as a "switchboard operator," hooking up people with information. I hope to assist people with educating themselves as ferret owners by pointing them to computer resources, books, other people, good vets, ferret shelters. Hopefully I can answer basic care questions, and, of course, refer people to "experts" for more difficult issues (e.g. veternary care). I am so excited! In time, if the interest develops, maybe this idea will blossom into a club or even a shelter or both. I am keeping a notebook now of all of the "Connection's" activities so that I can keep up with it all. And so far, I am happy to say I feel so successful! The other evening, I received a call from a very sweet lady who had to place her two ferrets (you may recall my post about Squid and Lady). Jessica, another FML'r, responded to my plea, and she is now mom to two new ferret babies! Hooray! Thank you to Jessica and to all of the other wonderful people who were willing to take in those two. People responded from as far away as Indianiapolis! Wow! Michelle Matta and I helped to hook up another homeless baby with another Pittsburgh couple looking "to adopt." Todd's ferret "He-Man" (now NOSMO) has a new home with Diane and Mark! Hooray! Finally, I am very close to finding a new home for Bumper, a 7 mo. old, unneutered male. His owner, Ken, has to go to California in May and needs to find Bumper a home before then. Angela, another FML'r, would like to take him in. Here's hoping it all works out. If anybody's interested, you may want to e-mail Ken (just in case he needs a backup!). His e-mail is <[log in to unmask]>. Talk about feeling good- three (almost four) ferrets placed in one week! Well, I've talked your collective ears off enough for now. I just really wanted to share this idea. It is simple, but can be so effective. If you'd like to help ferret owners in your area, this is a great way to do so. You don't need to spend alot of money; time (and a notebook) are all that you need. We are so fortunate to have the FML and all of the other wonderful internet resources; it's great to be able to share this knowledge. Thanks for listening, Gina and Paleface [Posted in FML issue 1548]