My youngest babies celebrated Christmas day with a new trick -- they opened a BIG bag of cat litter from the bottom and spread it all over their room. You know you are a true ferret lover when you spend 30 minutes cleaning up a ton of cat litter, smiling the whole time because you're thinking what a great time they must have had! (I did move the cat litter to an inaccessible location; 9 years of being owned by ferrets and no one has ever been interested in the cat litter bags before...) On ferrets' above average memories...my beloved Pebbles, a MF female sable, who passed over the bridge at 8.5 years, could match shoes! And this is no mean feat in my closet -- sometimes I've worn a navy shoe and a black shoe to work and not noticed 'til lunch time. Pebbles would have never committed this fashion faux pax, she always took shoes in pairs. Once she emptied my sister's purse of nothing except every single cigarette and tampon, and all of her checks from her riding students. I was so proud of Pebbles! Oops, I mean I rebuked her severely while we moved all my furniture looking for my sister's paychecks... I like Maggie's posts and hope she doesn't abandon us. May the new year bring a ferret into your life (or in the case of many of us, another ferret into your life...), Ferretz Rule -- Lynne, and 8 fuzzies who would be delighted to mind your business. [Posted in FML issue 2167]