The next meeting of the Rio Grande Domestic Ferret Club will be on Saturday, December 21, from 2:00 pm till (whenever we get tired and decide to leave....) at the Westside Christian Church, 416 Clayton Road, in El Paso, TX. We had a request to make this a "Christmas Party" meeting - because it's on such short notice, there WILL NOT be a gift exchange - but we will do a "pot luck" finger foods spread. We're asking folks to bring cookies, chips, finger sandwiches, soda, or whatever they want as long as it will *not* require silverware. If you bring your critters, make sure you also have something along which you don't mind them eating. Healthy ferrets are allowed, as long as you bring proof of current rabies and CDV vaccinations. Owners are responsible for keeping an eye on & cleaning up after their own ferrets. Topics of discussion will include, but not necessarily be limited to, knowing our group :-) 1) ECE (it will probably hit El Paso soon - it's been seen in Las Cruces NM only 1 hour's drive from here) - what it is, what it does, how to recognize the symptoms, protecting your ferrets, etc..... 2) "Bothering" the Vet with a phone consultation when you're not sure something's wrong (yes, it's OK! or they wouldn't publish the clinic phone number!) 3) finalizing the design for our t-shirts A note on the t-shirts - the artwork was done on commission for us by Nick A. Korolev, whom many of you will recognize from his other ferret/pet portraits and caricatures (such as the infamous "Cow Tipping"and "The Weasel Warrior"). He's created an adorable "mascot" for our club, and the design will be unveiled at the meeting! I'll give you a clue - his name is "Billy," he's a Kit, and he's holding a pop gun .... Email me or call 915-852-1842 in the evenings if you need more info or directions to the church. Hope to see you there! Carla S. WhyNot? Ferrets Rio Grande Domestic Ferret Club [log in to unmask] or [log in to unmask] [Posted in FML issue 1786]