We had a major scare last night. we got home at midnight and were dead tired, but the house was pretty hot (we're having a miserable heat wave here in Seattle), so since our screen door is down for repairs and there were no ferrets in sight, we put up a minimal sort of ferret barrier and opened the front door in order to get a little cool night air into the house. Then we wander off to do our nightly routine, check on the ferrets etc & forget all about it. we're climbing into bed 10 minutes later when we realize that we've left it open, and that Misha was last seen heading that direction. we race to the livingroom and there's no sign of him anywhere. He's clearly jumped the barrier (nothing stops Misha when he decides to climb over it) so clad in nightgown, armed with a squeaky rubber duck and a flashlight, I head out into the yard berating my stupidity & praying he's alright. well within two squeaks, there he was perfectly fine, hopping out from beneath a bush, desperate to get his duck back to the stash under the couch. Needless to say we're putting the screen door back up this weekend, and are well aware of just how lucky we are that he came back safe & sound. To give me a chance to balance my karma back out from our carelessness this morning a strange dog appeared in or yard. She'd been following a nice lady on a bike for a few bocks across a major street and had no intention of heading for home anytime soon. Since she clearly had nursing puppies back home we were very concerned that she be returned quickly, but she had no tags. I tied her to the porch gave her a little water & called animal control to come & help. about 10 minutes later I guess she finally got bored with her great adventure, because she started pulling on her tie in the direction she'd come from. I figured that a little walk wouldnt hurt me, so off we went. about 2 blocks later I saw a couple wandering around peering into yards with a puppy in their hands & sure enough we'd found her owners out searching desperatley to bring her home to the babies. They had that same pathetically grateful look on their faces that I must have had last night when Misha came running up to me. So all the little animals in my neighborhood are safely at home whee they belong this morning & I feel a little better having passed along my good fortune to someone else by returning their beloved pet. Eden - grateful to still have 3 guys: Misha, Lemke & Bill (the human one) ********************************** Eden Rain [log in to unmask] Adobe Systems, Seattle WA ********************************** [Posted in FML issue 1642]