I live above a warehouse, and in that warehouse, furniture is made. Unfortunately, that tends to mean that around this time every year, the person making the furniture has a heap of work to do, and very little time. Therefore, he sprays varnish on his furniture inside the warehouse 16 - 18 hours in a day. The varnish smell/fumes are actually worse inside the house than they are in the warehouse because we're above it. Needless to say, this means the ferrets get moved at this time of year. Baby and her litter of kits have been moved into the office where I work (since I work from home) since that room is the least affected by the varnish. At eight days of age, they're proper little terrors. Baby's nest box has her teeth marks around the openings (the 'roof' opens and closes to allow for easy access but still some privacy for the mama and kits, and the 'door' is permanently open) Since the nestbox is made of cardboard (I throw it away once they're finished with it) the door and top section of the front wall are riddled with holes. Because she's in my office (next to my desk) I get to see whenever the kits start 'acting up' as all kits, regardless of age, are prone to doing. Poor Baby has her paws full with these guys. Seven kits, all blindly but energetically going their own way. They love to climb by her head, which considering she often hangs her head out the box, means they fall out of the box. Once they're out, they squeak for mama to get them back in <G> If mama comes out for a drink or some food, she tends to drag half of them to the door as she goes through it. Before she gets a chance to even get her back legs out of the box, there are babies demanding to be placed back in the box. Despite their eyes being firmly shut, the babies all know exactly where the 'door' is to the box, and unerringly crawl to the opening if their mama is out. Or in for that matter. They just love that door. As I've been typing, Baby has pulled babies in that door to their 'nest' at the back of the box at least six times. Poor lass has her paws full for sure!! When they're quiet, all is peaceful, Baby gets to have a nap and sometimes prefers to take it separate from the kits, when they're awake though... heaven forbid mama ferret wants some time away! The 24 food station needs to be made available!! Baby has taken this in her stride, and is by far more patient with this litter than she was with her last. Hopefully these little fellas turn out as nicely as her last litter. I've taken some photos last night and this morning, but since it's a weekend, and a small town in a small country... I have to wait until Monday before I can get the photos back and I can dare to put them on a website. Hugs to the furkids out there. Sam ----------- To see some awesome ferret cards, drop in on http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~fanmail/cards/ferretcard.htm [Posted in FML issue 2523]