(This is a hard letter to write.) My now-ex-partner and I adopted three ferrets from Furet Mon Ami (the shelter in Carignan, south of Montreal, that has since been closed by the city) about a year and a half ago, and moved in with our new 'family' in Montreal. We've since decided that we are better friends than romantic partners, are living separately, and have been sharing the responsibility for our fuzzies. I had them for eight months after that and, much as I love them and delight in their personalities, three of them _are_ a handful. My ex-partner now has them in her parents' house, and although they've grown on the family, her mother wants some of her rooms back. I don't have the living arrangement to support them or the time to care for them properly, and my ex-partner's job search will soon take her to the other side of Canada. Which brings me to the hard issue: I'm wondering if there are any caring, responsible homes that would be willing to adopt or even temporarily care for our three happy, healthy ferrets. We have one male and two females. Selk is the male, the biggest, and the goofiest. He loves to wrestle, steal food (raisins), open groceries for me if I leave them on the floor, and (of course) sleep. Frew is his sister. Selk and Frew are both about eighteen months old. Frew is the independent one, and if we were to split them up to live in different places, Frew would probably be the one that would do the best on her own. Zoie is now about two-and-a-half years old, and is the smallest. She has the funniest personality: she is very sociable, loves to play with the other two, and loves to curl up in sleeves or on laps. She is also the Houdini of the bunch: ferret-proofing for her is a constantly evolving challenge. If anyone were willing to take them on, we would provide suitable cages and other ferret-type stuff, and certainly share the knowledge and experience we've gained in a year-and-a-half of presiding over the happy chaos ferrets bring with them. As I said, this is a hard letter to write. I realise that part of being a responsible pet owner is to provide a reliable, stable home for the pet. In this aspect, I haven't been a responsible pet owner. Lives change, though, and eighteen months ago I never would have imagined things happening the way they did. I'm hoping that someone who is now in the same situation that we were in eighteen months ago, who is curious about ferrets and wants to experience the joys of having little balls of life running around their house, will find this to be the perfect offer. I'm in Ottawa now, and the ferrets are in Montreal. Toronto isn't unreasonable, and I'll be driving as far west with them as Sault Ste. Marie over Christmas. Thanks, (and dooks!) Mike, Selk, Frew and Zoie -- Michael Iles What garlic is to food, [log in to unmask] insanity is to art. [Posted in FML issue 2148]