Had a great time in Georgia, making new friends and shooting ferrets. The Georgia ferret thingie was great; lots of people and ferts. I enjoyed watching blindfolded people trying to sniff out their ferrets from three offered. I would have no trouble with Amber who poofs just because it is apparently fun to do. I shot ferrets most of Sunday; well, *after* I accidentally took a prolonged tour of the rich side of town. Afterwards, it was a sprint back home for a bicycle training session with Andrew, and doctor appointments. Andrew is faster than me anymore, but I can outlast him. Took along Bear and Stella on the ride; the weather was cool and the two of them were jumping around like kits in the cool air. They must have tunneled more than an hour in the leaves and grass by the Missouri River before it was time to head back. They had a brief encounter with a box turtle and Stella must have jumped a foot in the air when the turtle stuck it's head out of the shell. I haven't heard her hiss since she was a kit. I have mucho mail I am slowly working through, and the ferret questions are piling up. I will get to both as soon as possible. I had to resort to scanning stuff and so may not be completely up with some of the recent issues. But here are a few opinions anyway. I support anyone mature enough to understand they don't have the time, money or deep-seated love to maintain their pet ferrets (or any other pet), and elect to release them for adoption. That is not to say I believe ferrets are disposable pets, nor do I support spontaneous pet purchases. I just believe two wrongs do not make a right, and it is wrong to keep a pet you dislike or cannot maintain. Adopting it out is the moral thing to do. It is hard enough to give something you love away; it doesn't help to yell at them for it as well. I adopted four ferrets from a single young lady, and she has dropped by to visit them, and calls at least once a year to see how they are doing. I not only encourage it, I recommend it. Those actions alone have shown to me the depth of her feelings for the little beasties, which is good enough for me, and I hope someday she can own ferrets once again, and I would vouch for her if asked. I might be considered somewhat of a ferret apologist for saying this, but I ask those unlucky few who sometimes feel the heat from us more rabid ferret fanatics to try and understand the depth of our passion for the little carpet sharks. A few of us are more passionate than others, and like the time I hollared at a professor for cruching one of "my" bones at an archaeological dig, can say things in a terse and excited way that is immediately mistaken as angry or rude. Forgive us our words of passion, and accept my praise for your maturity and your own depth of feeling for your efforts to get your ferrets to a good home, for whatever reason you have to get rid of them. Fert Update: m Sand and Foster are doing great! Almost all of Sandy's hair has returned, except for a monk-like patch on her rump, and her complete tail, which are hairless. Foster has returned to the top-dog status he once held, and *runs* to me when he smells chicken. Gosh, does he love BBQ sauce! And he has put back on all his weight; he is back up to 3.2 lbs. I've noticed him standing in the food dishes, not letting anyone eat with him. What a hog. Apollo has started to lose hair on the top of his rump, so I've scheduled him to see the vet Friday. He is a MF fert adopted from TLE a couple of years ago, and had his front canines cut off by someone. (At first they looked broken, like from biting the cage or falling, but closer inspection clearly showed the tale-tail marks of a wire cutter on the base of the teeth. He is very sweet. The kits are doing fine; Carbone is just at 3 lbs and is almost the largest fert in the house. And he is not yet 6 months old. Amber and Jezabel love to terrorize the back of my legs, but no longer bite hard. Jet thinks I'm her daddy, and jumps into my hands when I call. Her little white eyebrowns give her somewhat of a comical look, but I am thankful for them because they are about the only way I can tell her from Jezabel. They get their 3rd distemper shots next week. I got a lot of mail about Simon's strange cough, with most htinking he might have had a sore throat or something. Can't tell, even though I pulled out the flashlight and looked. It cleared up on its own. Everyone else is doin' jus' fine. Bob C and 20 MO Ferretoholics [Posted in FML issue 2096]