I've been asked the standard questions of course, ie. "Does he bite?", "What is it?" and I don't know why but they always ask me, "How long have you had it?" I'm a smarta** at heart and rarely miss a chance to demonstrate that skill....I've had to hold my tongue in most cases when it comes to my little devil dog, Caesar, simply because I'm afraid someone will take me seriously. BUT, there was one time that a woman was just asking for it. To my chagrin, it wasn't much of an opportunity, but sometimes you have to take what you can get. :::snicker::: Okay, I'm in a PetsMart looking for a new toy for the devil dog. Caesar is being his usual "beacon of ferret" or "I'm really a snake dressed as a ferret." He drapes himself along my forearm, front paws in the palm of my hand, and sticks his head as far out ahead of us as a ferret can, looking side to side for victims...not to bite...but for attention!! The little rascal loves it when people come and talk to us. Anyways, this nutty woman starts out: "Awwww, I just love otters", she exclaims. I look around me making sure she was really talking to us, then began to open my mouth to educate the misguided soul. WELL, I didn't even get to utter a single syllable when she rapidly began rambling on about how much she loves otters and how cute they are. I just stand there smiling, wondering if she plans to take a breath so that I can tell her he's not an otter. "Oh, he's just so adorable", she says as she reaches to pet him, "Is it a male or a female?" Straight-faced I reply, "Neither." A brief moment of silence before my answer finally reaches the hamster that is obviously slowing down inside her head. "Oh really, I had no idea that otters were both sexes...my how interesting, why I just had no idea...ramble ramble ramble.... "I finally cut her off and say "No, you don't understand, this is Caesar, he is a male ferret...BUT, he's NOT an otter. Finally I see the dawning of understanding and she nods, smiles and says, "oh, I see...my daughter had a ferret once...he was really cute." My turn for the blank look...ummm....how come she thought he was an otter then? She then realizes her guffaw and becomes a bit pink in the cheeks and I see in her eyes that she is searching for a way to regain her dignity (I'm not helping her, just a little quirk of mine...sink or swim baby, you're on your own). Needless to say her and the hamster ran out of ideas and she quickly scurried away. Caesar kinda looked around as if to say, "I can be an otter, just gimme a chance...as long as it will get me attention." Nancy [Posted in FML issue 2226]