Hello everyone! COUCH (OR BED) DIGGING Both Bill and Tina wrote in yesterday's FML to report that they are having problems with their ferrets invading their couches. As you both wisely recognize, ferrets can be injured or killed in a couch, and so it is in everyone's best interest to put a stop to your ferret's sofa-surfing. Depending upon your ferret's point of entry, you may or may not be able to ferret-proof the couch. If your ferret is entering through the bottom of the sofa (or your bed's boxspring for that matter), remove the flimsy dust cover on the bottom of the sofa (or boxspring). You can replace it with one of two coverings: 1. Cut a plain, sturdy sheet to fit the bottom of your sofa (or boxspring). Using industrial staples, staple the sheet to the bottom of your couch (or boxspring), being sure to pull it as taut as possible. 2. Cut a piece of plywood to fit the bottom of your sofa (or boxspring). Screw the plywood to the sofa frame (or boxspring frame). If your ferret is entering through the seat of the couch (under the cushions), you might try cutting a sturdy sheet and stapling it over the existing fabric (under the cushions) to reinforce the fabric and prevent the ferret from entering the inner-workings of the sofa. You will still need to be sure that your ferret is not under the cushions whenever you or a guest sits on the couch, however. If all else fails, I would recommend that you consider purchasing a futon-style couch. The modern futon sofas are really quite attractive, and they are reasonably comfortable as well. SLEEPING TIME Bill reports that his one-year old ferrets sleep twenty to twenty-one hours per day. While this sounds like a lot of sleep time, I don't think that it falls outside of the normal range of sleep time for ferrets. They play hard when they are awake, and they make up for it with lots of sound sleep. My only suggestion is to make sure that you are providing them with plenty of activities to satisfy their curiosity and to keep them entertained. I've noticed that bored ferrets will sleep more than most. Provide them with a variety of ferret toys - e.g. cardboard boxes with holes cut in them, dryer tubes, etc. and change them often. Provide them with a toy, and when you notice that they stop playing with it, exchange it for another. When they tire of that one, give them the first one back. Ferrets thrive on exploring new items. Cheers, Gina Hart/Sage Ferrets [Posted in FML issue 2142]