Dear Friends, A long time ago we realized all the fuzzies were smarter than we are, and so we had to put on heavy thinking caps to figure out ways to keep them out of forbidden rooms. First, the art studio. We made old fashioned wooden screen doors with rabbit wire rather than screening and hung them complete with spring for door closure and hook and eye door holders. We then took a lesson from the pioneers and attached a leather thong to the the hooks (they were put on both sides of the doors) and this works well as a latch string to open the hook that is closed on the opposite side of the door the person is on. In ten years, no fuzzie has figured out this system. The kitchen has a half-gate again covered with rabbit wire and topped with a 12" wide top. They can climb up the wire but they can't reach far enough from underneath to swing themselves up over the flattop. To keep them out of the laundry area we built a folding gate which can be hooked open when the dear hearts are sound asleep in their cages. The bottom half of this gate is rabbit wire, the top half is plywood that is longer than their reach. Again, hooks and eyes work to keep the gate secure. Long ago the recliner was bagged. We bought the heaviest available drapery and upholstering fabric that we could find and sewed the recliner into the bag. No zippers, no drawstrings, nothing but heavy stitching all around. It can be shampooed with the Bissel when it gets dirty. The recliner handle was forced through a very small hole before the bag was sewn up and the bag is big enough so that the recliner can be used as a recliner. HOWEVER, the rule is that no one sits in the recliner when the littles are out. Guests are firmly planted on the couch. Purses are put on top of the piano which they haven't figured out how to scale. ! x 4 encloses the bottom of the couch so they cannot get in there. Basically, they are confined to the living room for fun, and sleeping, as we keep the cages there, where they are still part of the family even if something is going on that requires them being caged. By confining them to one room, it makes the search for the hiding one much quicker. People laugh at our gates, but we just calmly remind them that in our house, fuzzies come first. When the fuzzies are out to play, the dogs are in their respective sleeping crates. The cats, of course, stay as far away as possible. Signs are posted on our doors, stating "Please watch the doors, ferrets live here. Sometimes it gets pretty tricky, balancing a tray of snacks while opening a door with 4 fuzzies determined to get on my side of it. If one does, everything stops until we catch the rascal and get him or her back in the safe room. Sincerely, Cheryl Nordgulen [Posted in FML issue 2040]