Ahhh, the joy of educating... On Friday, the News & Observer's "What's Up" weekend section listed The Ferret Guardian Rescue Haven & Triangle Ferret Lovers club's Adoption Day on the second page. Very prominent position. Unfortunately, they also listed my employer's phone number (*without* listing me as contact person) to call for questions. My employer's business telephone line received over 50 calls beginning at 8:30am and on the answering machine. Some of the more interesting questions/statements from callers were: "How much do they cost?" "Will you have ferrets there?" "Are they nice or vicious?" "How much do they cost?" "Can you tell me what ferrets are like?" "My 9 & 7yo want a ferret. Do you think I should get them one?" "How much do they cost?" "I used to have 5 ferrets. [Used to, what happened?] Well, they just kinda died off." "What are each of the available ferrets' personality?" ...and so on. I was in charge of setup/breakdown. Diane Campbell arrived at 9:45am with people actually following her into the store trying to get answers to questions about the ferrets. First, we had to get the ferrets out of her car! I got a call from Aleshia at 2pm - they had *run out* of Adoption Applications (30), Membership Applications, and the Aug/Sept Newsletter! Besides caretaking a local zoo, I drove to my office to make more copies and deliver. The media is a very powerful tool. Our short-handed volunteers were swamped with questions ranging from: "So what's the deal with the Rabies Law?" "I don't want the pair Blizzard & Cocoa, just Cocoa. [The shelter will not break up a pair. Why not!?" "How much do they cost?" "I've heard they are very destructive." This is why we hold events - to educate the public about ferrets. We need volunteers for these events. Please consider helping out for 3-4 hours at our upcoming events: Reptile & Exotic Animal Show, Bake Sale, School Education Day, and another Adoption Day. A big "Thank You!" goes to our volunteers - Aleshia & Wynn, Cindy B., Caity Martin, Matt & Dan Herr. Shari Gunter Club Contact Triangle Ferret Lovers club, NC http://www.trifl.org [Posted in FML issue 2404]