Ferret Math has struck again! Saturday we were sitting at home, and our roommate answered the phone. He turned to us and said, "You remember that nice mellow ferret at Rich's house? You want it?" and without even consulting my husband and I answered simultaneously with a resounding "Yes!" So, I spent Saturday afternoon bathing my four fuzzies with sweet-smelling shampoo and clipping toenails and washing hammocks and towels, and Seth spent the afternoon moving the cages and rebuilding the tunnel system between them. Now, the two biggest cages are connected by a five-foot tunnel. On Sunday our newest came home-- Diva! Diva has been through four homes in her three years. She's our oldest now. She's a light sable, almost a chocolate, and she's not a MF ferret like our other four. It's amazing how different she looks from them. She's built more like a kit, short and compact, not very much arch in her back; her head is wide, bullet-shaped, with ears set low and tight against her head. Her fur is very short and dense. She is the tiniest of our ferrets, and by far the most mellow about being held. But, look out! She's kicked everybody's butt at least twice by now. The other ferrets are staying in the biggest cage, and she has the second biggest all to herself, not because they can't be together, but because every time the established ferrets came down the tunnel and poked their curious noses into 'her' cage, she'd lunge at them and they'd scurry back up. She's not vicious, though. There's been no blood shed or anything, just the normal trying to establish dominance stuff, and I think it looks like our littlest fert is also going to be Alpha. P.S. She's very cute and adorable, not quite the beauty of our Pandora or as striking as our Tank, nor as much of a masked bandit as our Flower or as homely/doglike as our Moogie, but she has a quiet beauty and will definitely get the Teddy Bear award. Might just give Pandora a run for her money among our clan. Hooray for Christmas Ferret Math! May 5 be a lucky number!!! Vickie Pandora: (sniffling in a corner) Flower: Who bruised her ego? Tank: (tail bottle-brushed) Whoaah! What is THAT?? Moogie: She doesn't bother me any. Then again, nothing does. Diva: (wondering) What kind of crazy place is this, anyway? [Posted in FML issue 2532]