I had to take a moment to tell you about several new kids (that's wjhat I call them) at Ferret Wise. Harley-- is a soewhat depressed 2 year old who found his owners had no intgerest in him as their birth date for human chilkd approached-- he is settling in though desperately bored at the shelter-- we are hopeful he will have a home to go to in the next few days -- a prescreening appointment is set and he is vaccinated and microichipped-- then there is Janie "Doe" a beautiful well mannered gentile youngster who was found seeking refuge in the latest storms 10 days or so ago-- she arrived with engorged ticks and very hungry-- she has adapted easily to the shelter diet of Totally Ferret and is less afraid of other ferrets-- Then the heartbreak kids arrived-- Freddie and Flint-- at 1 1/2 years these two boys have not ever been handled by humans -- they have lived in a gorgeous cage during the evenings -- and outside in another cage during the day--- but have only been handled with rubber gloves-- they are a sadf, but beautiful pair. current on shots-- but very gun shy-- Flint moreso than Freddie-- I am happy to say on day 5 they are responding much better to being held close and stroked, Freddie is actually looking for hugs, while Flint is still scared and shakes.....nips follow... but I am working on building their trust after all it is a new environment. It -really makes you wonder why these folks get their ferrets in the first place.... and other news: A joint sponsored seminar is in the planning stages -- we will be announcing it in the near future - The Domestic Ferret : Abuse investigations, abandonment, and how to handle it -- and MORE. Tenative location Concord, NH-- tenative date October '98 Open to animal control officers, shelter volunteers, ferret caretakers, and interested public-- RESERVATIONS WILL BE REQUIRED and there will be a registration fee for attendees with materials to take home watch the calendar section of http://www.dartmouth.edu/~crassi/index.html or email to FerretWise @top.monad.net Happy Ferreting Alicia for Ewok and the gang at- Ferret Wise [Posted in FML issue 2364]