I've been an FML'er for almost a year, but have never stood up to introduce myself or my family of fuzzies. Warning, this will be a long post as I have more than just a few fuzzies! I got my first two ferrets when I offered to "foster" them for a rescue I volunteer with. The ferrets had been left in a cage in an apartment when their owners decided to move out. A note was left on their cage that said "Please help find us a home. Slinky and Pinky". The apartment manager found them 3 days later and not wanting to be bothered with them, called the pound to come and get them. That's where the rescue stepped in and rescued the 2 ferrets from the pound. I immediately fell in love with them and adopted them (both sables about 3 yrs old). A month and a half later, I ended up rushing Pinky to the 24 hour emergency vet clinic. She died of a liver disease that had been eating at her for quite a while. I was devastated and knew Slinky had to be feeling the loss too. So, I went to find him a new friend. That's when I found a local ferret club and ferret shelters. We visited a shelter together and he chose two friends, Cassie (5 yrs) and Zeus (4 yrs) - both sables. I said okay and that brought our family to three ferrets. After getting Cassie, I had an unexplained diminishing of socks. Hmmm? Several months later I visited another shelter and Munchie (3 yr blaze, silver mitt) stole my heart. My crew of three welcomed him with open arms. Then, one day I went looking to add a silver. The shelter had a silver (Spook 4 yrs), but she came with 3 sable boys (Snoopy, Taz, and Bear - all about 3 yrs). The shelter had promised to adopt them all out together - and she kept her promise, because I came home with them all! Snoopy also has fetish for socks, but he doesn't wait for you to take them off. He helps you take them off. Only barefeet around him. I added my first youngster when I gave Nirveli a home. (Nirveli means "water child". She had a bad habit of sticking her head into the bottom of the water dish and digging all the water out of the bowl until it was empty). Needless to say, I switched to a water bottle. Nirveli's mother is a ferret that had been rescued from a breeder with horrible living conditions. The breeder didn't even know the ferret was pregnant. I got Nirveli when she was 8 weeks old. Simon, a silver boy also found his way to my house from the shelter. For some reason, his story evades me? My next two were a special case - they had been severely mistreated at a pet store and had developed into bad biters. Our local shelter mom took them in (she won't turn any ferrets away), worked with them, and taught them to trust humans again. They were nicknamed the "biter boys". Befitting their nickname, they were named "Billy the Kid" and "the Sundance Kid" (Billy and Sundance for short). You'd think I would stop here. But ferret math took another massive leap - I adopted four more. This time, 2 male deaf blaze silver mitts (Pancho and Spanky), a deaf marked BEW (Cosmo) and a dark silver (Wolfie). My latest addition is my Valentine - a marked BEW, 3yrs, and possibly deaf. He was a shelter pick-up that never made it to the shelter. I called the shelter and let her know he found himself a home at my place (the week before Valentine's day). If you kept up with the ferret math, then you know I have a fuzzy family of 17. Believe it or not, they all get along wonderfully! Playtime is better described as "Romper Room". You name it, I've probably had it as a pet (hamsters, chinchillas, gerbils, rabbits, turtles, birds, etc). I've loved them all. But none have stolen my heart so completely as my ferrets!!! PS - Thanks 'BIG' for keeping this ferret forum running!!! I can only appreciate the time and energy you spend each day on the FML. Chris Snoberger [Posted in FML issue 2221]