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.