Hi all! I was at a pet store in Hampton, VA this weekend. (I know, I know. I don't like pet stores much either). I just wanted to look around, and play with the little fuzzies. They had a bunch in 2 wire cages in the middle of the store (they looked very healthy, and well taken care of. The litter box was pretty clean and they were in pine shavings (I know, not the best, but at least they weren't ceder)). Anyway, I was looking at them through the cage and a guy comes over with his little daughter. SHe was cute, maybe about five. Anyway, she was _entranced_ by the ferrets. When her dad saw here over there he said (pretty loudly) "Don't go near them, they bite!" So I told him they didn't bite any more than little kittens. Then Sabrina (my girlfriend) and Deborah (a mutual friend) and I all took a ferret each and cuddled them. They guy seemed softened (especially when the one I was holding yawned and stretched!) Anyway, I think it is interesting how people who have never even _seen_ a ferret before just assume they are evil little critters that bite. On to another topic. (kinda sorta) While in the pet store, we saw a tower cage full of domestic kittins. Normally I would never get a kitten from a store (the shelters are full of them). The three cats my mom has are all from shelters, but there was this one little runt in there (she was _so_ cute!), she was tiny (she stans quite easily in the palm of my hand). They kitties weren't very well taken care of. The little runt had some matted hair her leg obviously from diarrhea, and she had what looked like a sunflower seed stuck in it. I had to get her, so was so cute, and so lonely! So I brought her home and gave her a bath (she hasn't had any poop problems yet). She whines a _lot_, but other than that she is adorable! I have been slowly trying to introduce her to the ferrets (who are _much_ larger than her). The first time I just set her outside their cage, and she stood up fully, raised all her hair and _growled_. The second time, I held Penny kinda close to her, and I got the same reaction. The third time (this morning), I held her near the cage, and she actually sniffed Penny's nose before she started to back away. I think eventually they will all get along just fine, but for now, I don't even let them play together. Anyone have any kitten introduction wisdoms to give to me? Anyway, sorry to babble! Pete (free time? what free time?) Sandy (our new housemate has a bit of an attitude, I see. <g> Dook! Chitter!) Penny (what _is_ that fuzzy little thing? It doesn't look like a ferret. Oh well. Dook!) Mabel (Hey you didn't say anything about living with _them_! Meow!) ================================================================== Peter M. Brown - Programmer/Analyst - App Group Applied Information Sciences, Inc. (301) 489-1045 7501 Greenway Center Drive, 6th [log in to unmask] Greenbelt, Maryland 20770 http://www.aisdevnet.com ================================================================== Personal : http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/pbrown/ [log in to unmask] ================================================================== This message was sent using Microsoft Exchange 4.0 ================================================================== [Posted in FML issue 1743]