A friend of mine with several pets in her house came up with a really brilliant solution to keeping a Christmas tree in her home. She got a short 4 ft. tree and decorated it up real nice. Then she hung it from her ceiling with a strong (plant?) hook. Somehow she was able to attach a small attractive bucket for water to the base of the tree. Best of all, no problems with the house full of critters! I always thought it was a really neat idea. Someone mentioned the Humane Society in Ann Arbor, Michigan. I used to be a volunteer there about 10 years ago, and at that time it was considered one of the top Humane Societies in the nation. It's also where I met my first ferret! but at that time they were illegal in Michigan. My ferrets also steal shoes. But only the shoes of our company. It's kind of embarrassing to have to go find your friends shoes for them when they want to leave. My friends with the 7 y.o. boy (who bit my dog earlier this year) came over the other night and they had not told him that Tequila had died. I didn't think of it either. After about 20 minutes of looking, and rounding up the other two ferrets, he comes out and asks me where KIMO (Tequila) is, cause he can't find her. Poor guy, just about broke his heart. Oliver (the little boy) has developed a toe fettish. He licks (never bites) my toes, especially the area between my big toe and the next one. The first couple of times he did it, it was cute. But he has gotton way out of control and I find no humor in it now - not the way I want to be woken up in the morning!!!! He is so friendly though, loves to be held & cuddled. Kahlua seems to be doing okay w/o Tequila around. I'm glad I had gotten Oliver for her to play with before Tequila died. Holly [Posted in FML issue 1788]