Ho, Ho, Ho!

Wow, I can't believe I haven't found time to blog for 6 months! But I wanted to share some holiday pix and some thoughts on making your ferret holidays bright.

For example, here's an attempt at a jolly holiday photo. The little red hat has a drawstring, so the ferret can't just immediately shake it off. But you can probably tell that he wasn't exactly thrilled to have it on his head. In fact, he was trying to back right out of my grip.

Getting a good shot is a matter of setting things up beforehand, and having great timing. I've never had much luck with getting them to cooperate with my efforts, even if I offer treats. Ideally, you could set up the scene and let the ferret rampage through it -- if you can convince them that it's their idea, they might cooperate momentarily.

Here's another great shot, as Pan tries to exit the foreground:

Cooperative, he ain't. A second later, I got this as he tried to exit the hat:

Needless to say, the thrill of getting that perfect holiday shot still eludes me. But I had a lot of fun (or exasperation, depending upon your interpretation of the word "fun") trying.

Ferret excavations, part 2...

Ferrets 2, Chris 0...

Yes, they did it again, while I was in the garden harvesting lettuce for lunch. I forgot to take pictures last time, but this time I had the camera in my pocket. This is how they think the kitchen should be redecorated.

Pan inspects the redecoration committee's efforts.

I think this might work for winter, what with the "snowy" look. But maybe they were trying for "Christmas in July"? Either way, I'm not eager to clean it up until I have assurances from the husband that ferret-proofing has been accomplished.

Festive drifts create the illusion of winter in the summer time.

Or maybe we should just store the corn meal in a different type of container. Sigh. Ferrets -- you can't keep them out of trouble, but maybe you can put the trouble out of reach...

Ferret excavations...

Argh! I found Attilla in the kitchen cabinet this afternoon, having removed the lid from a sealed plastic container and proceeded to excavate vast quantities of corn meal. What a naughty boy! I spent twenty minutes pulling everything out and shoveling flour-drifts into the trash. All better now.

The Poop Fairy...

...came to my house today. Yes it's true... there IS a Poop Fairy. See, I have photographic evidence, and all 4 ferrets swear they didn't do it. Look what he left me...

Poop.

That's a litter box right next to it. I guess his aim was a little off.

Luckily, I keep used paper towels that aren't too soiled, so I have some way to deal with these occurrences. Reduce, REUSE, Recycle or Compost, we always say. There's some toilet paper that got ferret-sculpted last week, too. It might as well serve its purpose before it gets discarded.

Answer to poop.

Now if I can just figure out how to keep that Poop Fairy from visiting quite so often.

Ferret mobility issues -- bathtub

Do your ferrets ever get stuck in the bathtub? Sometimes my old ferrets would be able to crawl into the tub, but not get back out. So we brainstormed the problem, and came up with a solution that is kind of like a wheelchair ramp. Notice that the board has some ridges cut into it, to provide better traction. Without traction, it was a bit too steep for the less-agile ferrets to use.

Genghis uses the ramp and stool arrangement to enter the tub



Now they love to climb in and spill the water that I leave in there for them. They're happy because they get to spill things, one of a ferret's favorite pastimes. I'm happy because they're spilling it in a bathtub with a drain, so I don't have to clean up the mess.

Attilla runs up while Genghis spills some water.

When it's time to use the tub, I just remove the board.

Weazel ferrets outdoor adventures on the deck

I let the ferrets out on our back deck sometimes. They think it's totally a big adventure to be outside, and happily go ferreting around all the junk we store out there, stuff for the grill, and the garden, and the yard, and so forth. Here's Genghis, getting some sunlight on his fur.

There's so much for them to poke their noses into, and interesting stuff to burrow through, things to climb and other stuff to knock over. It's all part of the excitement, to a ferret.

Of course, once in awhile someone decides that's not enough and makes a break for it... tries to crawl down the steps, or even bail off over the side and land in the ferns.

They can disappear quickly into any underbrush, so be watchful if your ferrets go outside. The best way to catch a loose ferret is to drop a jacket or other article of clothing on the ground. Or even a shopping bag. They can't seem to resist the urge to crawl right in and make themselves comfortable.

Folks, make sure you keep your vaccinations up to date

There are bad, deadly diseases out there, and it's up to you to protect your furkids.

Suds...

So I was cleaning the Washington Ferret Rescue Shelter on Friday, part of which is letting the ferrets out to play. I went over to use the utility sink, and there was a ferret in it -- no big surprise there, as they always clamber into the sink from the nearby shelves. But then I noticed a streak of turquoise along his silver tail. And I'm thinking to myself, how did he get turquoise dye on his tail? Maybe it came from one of the wet plush toys in the sink.

Okay, so I figure, just rinse it off and hope it didn't stain, right? I turned on the faucet and start to rinse his tail. I notice more turquoise along his leg and his side. Okay, no biggie -- I just hope it will come off. I stick more of the squirming beastie under the tap (and by now he's starting to get pissed at me, as evidenced by the red scratches on my wrist). But I hold on tight and -- oh good, the turquoise is coming off -- but... now the ferret is getting sudsy. Sudsy?? WTF? The more I rinse, the sudsier he gets! Finally from the odor, I realize that somehow he got dish soap (probably Dawn) all over himself.

So I ended up with a drenched, angry ferret. He pretty much got a complete bath, much to his disgust. I never did find where he got into the soap, though.

Wow, hacked by my own ferret!

Oh no! I KNEW I shouldn't have taught Arkillian to type... at least not before I taught him proper spelling and grammar!

There's a lesson in this, perhaps -- and one that I have tried hard to teach the husband -- DON'T teach the ferrets things that you don't want them to be able to do. Like, opening cabinets and drawers. Really cute, right? Yet somehow, it's never as cute the seven millionth time they do it. Especially when they crawl into a different cabinet or drawer, and trash whatever you have carefully and lovingly stored in there.

Anyway, I hope to use this blog to cover a variety of topics that ferret owners, and potential ferret owners as well, might have questions about. And I hope to do it in an entertaining fashion, as well as informative.
I've been a ferret owner for over 25 years, now. While this hardly makes me an expert on the topic, I'd like to hope I might know a thing or two of value.

teh big escape

it was dark and nite. we pusht teh cage door and it opent. out we came and scampert around. aftere sum gamz, teh otherz gets tired and lays down. i iz not tired. i iz lookin for TROUBLE

now look, i sez, teh internetz r ungarded, it is our chance to get BIG. mom wants to start teh blogg, but she is procrastinationing. she is doin teh facebook thing and not teh blogg. so we showz her how. we grabz it by teh scruff and shakes shakes shakes teh mouse thing until it squeeks

tehn we do teh blog thing and writes our thotz. we hopes u likz it. if u dont, we will bite u with our sharp sharp teethz.