I've noticed a lot of stories about ferrets getting out of the house through a momentarily open door. I know that was a big concern for me and my (now ex-) boyfriend when we moved in together with his ferrets. We were subletting a small studio apartment in New York City and I kept seeing these visions of us (mostly me) running down the hallway to catch an escapee at 3am, which was when I usually got home. We happened to be lucky enough to have a short entry hall to the apartment. We left just enough room for the door to swing open and put up a "ferret shield; a 2 1/2 foot high piece of clear plexiglass held up by some of those rubber feet that you can buy at Radio Shack. When my roommate and I moved into our current apartment, the first thing I did was to plan out where I would put up new ferret shields, assuming Felix would have the run of the entire apartment. Again, I planned on one across the entrance hall, more critical this time because there isn't a hallway, two flights of stairs and a doorman between our door and the outside world anymore. I also planned on not letting Felix into the kitchen; just too many things to get into. What I wound up doing is keeping him (and now Mazie, my roommate's ferret) confined to the bedrooms and bathroom with a "shield" across the doorway to the living room. They've got roam of half of the apartment, which is a pretty good amount of space, and I don't have to worry about them near the front door or the sliding door to the balcony. One side benefit (?) of this is that it's kept the ferret math to a minimum (for now). Ed, my roommate, kicks the fuzzies out of his bedroom at night and I'm not sure if I could deal with more than just these two running around my room at 5am. Of course, I'm sure that'll change before too long. ;) Kathy Rich [Posted in FML issue 1957]