Pix from my new camera

Bendy ferret is bendy! Tekkie on left, Millie on right, and Snoball is bendy in the center.

Tekkie sleeping on Snoball's butt.

Group shot: Tekkie on left, Tiberius in center, Snoball on right, and Darkpaw on top. Aww!

I have to say that I am pretty impressed with the new camera. It takes great pix!

Getting a New Camera!

I am so happy! I just purchased a Nikon Coolpix P6000 13.5 Megapixel over ebay. And it was only $280! (Target sells them for $499 -- yikes!)

I know, I know, buying electronics from ebay? Well, this guy I bought it from seems very solid. He has good feedback, and the purchase is covered by Paypal if something should go wrong. I am a very experienced ebayer, so I know the ropes. However, if something does go wrong, you, my readers, can taunt me at length.

If all goes well, we will have some beautiful new pictures in the next few weeks. And lord knows we need some -- we have a ton of new faces to get on the web!

Rescued Breeder Ferrets!

This is Cameron. He's only a year old. He has lived as a breeder for most of that, so he doesn't know humans very well. We don't know if he likes socks, or if he hates squeaky toys, or if he steals ice cream whenever he gets a chance. We don't know if he will beg for N-bones. Not yet, anyhow.

Cameron is an albino with butterscotch coloring. We don't know if he is that color because of the food he ate (he was being fed dog food). All we know is that he needs to be neutered and given a good home where he will be treated like the sweet pet we know he can become.

This is Cameron's buddy Brutus. Brutus is a huge ferret! He is also very alert. (An alert fert lol) He follows you as you walk by his cage. He is magnificent! At three years of age, he has had the benefit of growing up with all of his man-bits intact, so he is quite a bit larger than the usual group of kids we see. He also has quite a royal bearing, and his coloring is amazing! In short, this guy really lives up to his name. When he gets adopted, he will be the center of attention wherever he goes.


There is another ferret that I want to mention. I did not get her picture, but her name is Aurora (my camera is really going out now, and many of my pictures are screwed up -- so sad!)

Aurora is a tiny little sable who looks a lot like your average female ferret. But when I picked her up, I got a huge surprise! She is SUPER-DENSE! There is not an ounce of fat on her -- she is all muscle! She is super sweet too. Chris has to keep her a while because she might be pregnant. But after that, she is going to make someone a very happy ferret owner because, with all of that muscle, she'll probably be a great gymnast!

Garret the Ferret!

I have a friend named Garret. (OK, my husband has a friend named Garret, and I am just kind of along for the ride.) Garret has made it clear to me that he doesn't like ferrets. Even though his wonderful, gentle, and extremely intelligent son loves them, Garret always has a nasty thing to say about our poor little weasels. It's just a damn shame.

Today, while I was volunteering at the shelter, I came across a recent addition -- Garret the Ferret! Surely my friend could not hate his namesake! Especially such a cute namesake with a little black dot on his nose! So I photographed Garret with my phone and shipped the picture off. (Yep -- that's why the quality is so bad -- it's a phone pic!)

Turns out that when Garret was a child, they used to mock him by yelling, "Garret the Ferret! Garret the Ferret!" Being a child, he did not realize what a very great honor those children were paying him. All he remembers is the silly rhyme that made him sad. So he takes it out on poor helpless weasels by shunning them and putting the hate on. Poor Garret. Poor weasels!

I suggested to my husband that, maybe after 40-odd years, it might be time to put the hate away. I can only hope he passed on that message to Garret. Because, if Garret doesn't stop badmouthing the weasels, I know what I am going to do -- bring a weasel-shaped cake to his summer BBQ with "Garret the Ferret" written on it!

He Eats Everything

OK, I have always heard how difficult it is to get older ferrets to eat new kinds of kibble or soup. Ferrets form their ideas about what is food and what isn't food within the first year of their life. It's hard to get them to accept new food ideas after that point.

However, I did NOT consider the corollary to this: Ferrets below one year of age will, if Tiberius is any indication, try to eat any kind of food. Especially if you are eating it. He just has to try it -- yogurt, cereal, peanut butter, dog food -- it all goes in his face unless I catch him in time. This is quite surprising to me.

No, I don't have children. Why do you ask?

Northwest Pet & Companion Fair -- DONE!!!

We did it! We actually had a booth at the NW Pet & Companion Fair. It was awesome! At the last minute, everyone pulled together and helped out. I was blown away by all the help and kindness everyone gave.

I even managed to sell enough jewelry to almost pay for the entrance fee. Almost.

The ferrets also had a great time. Boo, shown here, was a picture of gentleness to all who held him. Awww.

I also found out at the Expo that Ike is up for adoption. Ike has always been one of my favorites. He is white with a dark tail, is super gentle, and likes to hang out on his back. In fact, I was going to adopt him when he first came in. Several people were fighting for the right to adopt him, but we spent too much time fighting and not enough time adopting. Nothing bugs Ike, which is why he was commandeered by Chris to take care of some baby ferrets that had been abandoned and needed mothering. Chris said, "I keep telling you, if you see a ferret you want, you have to take him right away, otherwise he may not be here tomorrow. Case in point equals Ike." But now the babies are raised, and Ike is free!

Now I just have to get my husband, James, to approve of me adopting Ike. This is not easy. I may have to resort to subliminal messaging. My husband says that we already have eight, and that is already too many. I say, well, what's one more? This strategy does not usually work. I may have to do what I did with the last one -- sneak him in and see if James notices.

Answering a Question

OMG! Someone actually read my blog! And they even asked me a question. I am in shock!

Anyway, here is the question:

"Hey, I fell in love with a ferret at a pet store and my girlfriend said that they're "dirty animals" so we couldn't get one. I was wondering if you had any insight as to whether or not ferrets are any dirtier than other animals?

PS Even if we were to get one I wouldn't get one at a pet store

PPS Is it true that ferrets can't see depth and may walk off of ledges?"

OK, first off, ferrets are not dirty animals. A healthy ferret is a remarkably clean animal. They groom themselves (and each other) a lot, although not as much as cats.

That being said, they have a smell. A musky smell. It's not as strong as the smell you'd have from a dog living with you (and I have a dog -- Golden Retriever -- so I know this). But it is noticeable. And some people just can't stand the smell. I always liked musky perfumes and colognes, so I never had a problem. But if your girlfriend doesn't, then she might have a problem with their scent.

Ferrets can see depths, but they can't see very far. They are nearsighted. And yes, they may walk off ledges, but that kind of depends on your ferret. I had a ferret who was stone blind and would walk off ledges for the hell of it. We called it "Fippy Bungee-jumping". (Fippy is pictured here, safely on the ground in a tube, one of his favorite hangouts. I miss that little guy.) Most ferrets are more careful around ledges, which is fortunate because otherwise the species would have died out a long time ago.

Thank you so much for reading my blog and asking a question!