Hi! I have been ready all your post for the last couple of months. This is the first time I have posted. So I will start by wishing everyone a Happy and Healthy New Year whether you have 2 legs or 4. I was sitting here catching up on my reading of the FML for the last couple of days and thinking how great it would be to be able to take the family (Husband John, 9 fuzzies and 3 Rotties) outside to play in the snow. We are melting at the moment, 36 degrees C. Tomorrow is supposd to be 38. By the way, we all live at Woodside, which is in the hills about 45kms from Adelaide, South Australia. For those that are interested we do go out hunting for rabbits with our babies at times. But usually only in the cooler months. It ius much too hot to do in the summer. John has just returned from our property on the otherside of the hills from Adelaide and it was well over 40 degrees up there. And that is where we go rabbiting. Although there isn't as many rabbits around now as there used to be. They have released calicivirus over her to try and reduce the number of rabits around. They cause untold damage to the bush and properties. When we go rabbitting we do not use "guns" at all. We use nets. Either ones made of wire netting "chicken wire". or woven ones with a draw string that we lay flat over the mouth of the burrow amd the rabbit when it races out causes the string to tighten behind it. This way you catch the rabbits alive and there is no danger to anything or anybody else. Sometimes on large warrens you may need between 20 to 100 nets. On these warrens you would use up to 8 ferrets all working at the same time. Other times you would only use 1 or 2 at a time. Our ferrets are (or will be) workers as well as pets. The reason I say will be is that we only have 1 at the moment that is older than 1 year old, "Baby" she is 3 1/2. The others are only young. "Captain" is 1, he is Baby's mate their family is due 11 Feb. They are both Albinos. The others are 2 panda hobs as yet to be named, they are 4 months old, 4 sables, 2 males and 2 females, "Mopar" and his future mate is "Minx", "Rocky Raccoon" and his future girlfriend "Cleopatra" and my only silver mitt "Silver Lady" they are all 9 and 10 weeks old. We have had ferrets now for nearly 16 years and woke up Christmas morning to find our 6 1/2 year old "Miss Muffett" had gone to the big hunting ground in the sky. I miss her antics. She was the daughter of one of my past favourites, "Lady Jayne". To "Opal's" Mum our hearflet condolences. I have shed a few tears for you both. I have just realised how much I have babbled on. So I had better go and spray the family, to help cool them down. Thanks to every one for the help and enjoyment that I have from The FML. Sandy PS I must ask - when you all speak of raisins are you talking about the dried grape type? [Posted in FML issue 1813]