An excellent place to start learning about ferrets is The Ferret Central Website. There are FAQs, medical information, cute pictures, and links to other ferret-related sites. These sites, in turn, can link you to other sites, which will link you to - ah, you know how that works. - Most of my online time seems to consist of cruising through Usenet, and I subscribe to a newsgroup devoted to carpet sharks and the people who are owned by them, alt.pets.ferrets, or apf for short. I won't go into Usenet or newsgroup access here - I'm assuming you've got some Internet savvy - but I will include a link to the APF Homepage, which is a site set up for the subscribers to post photos of themselves and their fuzzbutts, and to post links of interest to them. Just click here, and there you are. (My picture isn't there yet; I'll have to get one taken and scanned sometime soon. Take this as a promise or a warning.) - I subscribe to an electronic mailing list about ferrets, appropriately entitled the Ferret Mailing List, or FML. The FML has existed now for over twelve years, and over 3,200 daily digests have been sent out to a membership that is now past 3,100 - impressive for an electronic mailing list. FML subscribers love their little fuzzies very much, and they're more than ready to post all sorts of useful information and advice on training, food, illnesses, etc., not to mention cute stories, poetry and other fun stuff. When a beloved furkid crosses the Rainbow Bridge or gets lost in the big, wide world, the grieving human parent will announce the sad news on the FML, and these folks are always ready with words of encouragement and support. Reading these sad messages will tear your heart to pieces; but you realize that there really are people out there who care, and you come to see that there is hope for us all yet. To subscribe, send an e-mail to listserv@cunyvm.cuny.edu with subscribe FERRET firstname lastname in the body of the message, and stand back. - There are several areas in the United States where it is illegal to own ferrets, based, among other considerations, on the misinformed belief that they are wild animals. Possibly the most prominent "Ferret Free Zone" is the state of California. Is it surprising that there is a group of ferret lovers dedicated to correcting this oversight? These good folks are known as Californians for Ferret Legalization, and their web site is here. The level of willful ignorance and stubbornness shown by the supporters of the ban is appalling, but then I'm naive enough about politics to expect honesty and rationality. The coordinator of the CFL is Jeanne Carley, and she and her cohorts are willing to work long and hard to overturn the ban. It isn't easy, and they've got a long way to go. And they need help. There is an address on the page for donations, so what are you waiting for? Go and do it! NOW!! - There are a lot of cute cat and dog calendars floating around out there, so you would expect there to be a few cute ferret calendars as well - and you would be right. In my unashamedly biased opinion, the best of the lot is put out each year byThe Ferret Company. It turns out that Jeanne Carley, mentioned above, is also a photographer who specializes in ferrets. The lady is a wizard with a camera (and Photoshop), and the pictures are gorgeous! It's obvious that she cares a lot about her subjects. Go to the Ferret Company website here and see what I'm talking about. They've got books, notecards, T-shirts, software, and a host of other goodies for sale. Take it from me, they make great gifts! - Someone who posts occasionally to the FML is Pixie da Pooter-Fert. This furkid's Mommy helped him to set up his own Home Page, which happens to be in my "neighborhood" of Geocities. I'm including a link here to Pixie's Home Page because he's got a link to my Rainbow Bridge page at his site, and fair is fair. Take a look and read about Pixie and his family. - Another furkid that posts regularly to the FML is Harley "Bug", a "special needs" ferret who resides with the Ferret Aid Society of Toronto. This little guy has had it rough. He was turned into F.A.S.T. in June of '97 with a rare bacterial infection and a badly injured eyeball (he may have been abused). The eye was removed in November of that year, and for the next two years he had to endure several operations, plus weekly sinus flushes (I can guess what this is, and I wouldn't like it a bit!), to fight that bacterial infection. After two years, it looks like Harley and his human almost have it licked. Harley's story features many good people (an obviously excellent veterinarian and his staff, a shelter Mom who loves him very much, an anonymous donor who shelled out $500 to pay for a particularly delicate sinus operation), but what I find especially inspiring is Harley himself. All through this, he's remained a happy and playful guy; whenever he goes in for his sinus flush, he takes the time to flirt with the receptionist. This links to the F.A.S.T. Homepage; there's a link there to Harley's page. Feb. 22, 2000: Update on Harley! Harley "Bug" went in today for an operation to close a hole in his nasal wall, which had been letting infection get into the eye socket. However, the hole has already healed, there is no more infection, and the vet decided that further operations are unnecessary. In short, Harley "Bug" is cured!! WAY TO GO, HARLEY!!! June 26, 2002 It's with deep sadness that I have report that Harley "Bug" made that journey to the Rainbow Bridge today. With his injuries and many operations, he had trouble breathing from time to time. He did not win this last battle. Such a strong spirit. Such a fighter. Such a happy, loving little boy. Many humans will miss Harley a lot. Wherever the Bug is now, he's whole again, and probably enjoying himself even more than he did before. Bye-bye, little Harley Bug. I'll never forget you. - Yet another of the fuzzy "lurkers" (I don't know if he's ever posted on his own; his Mommy posts regularly, though.) on the FML is Kouri Wood, who is a remarkable little guy. Among other things, he is the only known member of the National Rifle Association that is a ferret (and I'm not sure if the NRA Membership Board or Charlton Heston has a clue about this). Obviously, such an accomplished ferret would develop his own fan base, right? So, a business of five ferrets - the late Harley (not Harley "Bug"), Kit, Lily, Dixie and Stormy - got together and formed The Kouri Fan Club. Membership is open to all ferrets that can persuade their humans to send in the membership dues (or can steal it from their purses and wallets; let's be realistic here). Membership is also open to fuzzyless humans like me, which I was glad to find out; I'm now a Fan Club member and I feel honored. Membership dues go to Kouri's favorite charity, the Support Our Shelters fund, and in return members get a laminated membership card, a photo of Kouri and all sorts of goodies. And you'd probably guess that the Fan Club has an online presence, wouldn't you? Correct! The following link will take you to Kouri's Fan Club. There are members' photos, a Rainbow Bridge memorial page, the latest news about Kouri and the things he likes to do (This is one talented little ferret!), and so much more. I particularly like his famous Kookie Recipe. So, all you fuzzies (and you humans, too) - go and join Kouri's Fan Club. It's fun, and it's for a good cause. - As I surfed the Net to find out more about ferrets, I was surprised to learn that these cute little fuzzies have a hidden agenda: nothing less than World domination! Don't believe me, huh? Some carpet sharks managed to hack into the personal website of their "owner" (As if ferrets would consent to be "owned" - hah!) and made extensive changes to further their own insidious ends. NOTE: some of the pages on the site are intended for ferrets only, and there are prominent warnings that humans are forbidden from visiting these pages, at the risk of severe punishment. I admit I scoffed at the warnings, thinking they were "cute", and went right in. Then I started missing some socks. A lot of socks. And my toothpaste turned brown and began smelling funny... I'd take these warnings seriously if I were you. Any critter that can do all this is quite capable of taking over the World. I think we humans have to face the facts; we're licked. My suggestion is to pick up the nearest ferret and shower it with snuggles and kisses. At best this will score you some Brownie points (maybe that's not the best way to phrase it) under the new regime; if nothing else it's a fun thing to do. UPDATE: The Weezil Pages of Doom seem to have disappeared. Drat. - WARNING! There are a lot of cute pictures out there on the Whirled Wide Web of ferrets: ferrets sleeping in funny positions, ferrets playing, ferrets stealing and hiding the oddest things, ferrets in cute costumes, or ferrets just looking at the camera with big, wide "What's-that-flashy-thing-you're-pointing-at-me?" eyes. Searching for the latest cute fuzzy pictures and cute fuzzy stories can be habit-forming and will eat up your free time. (And here people thought accessing sex on the Internet was a problem. Hah!) I try and use several types of animals in my Rainbow Bridge stories, but for some odd reason I tend to focus on ferrets; does that mean I'm biased? If you've a mind to, head on over to my Rainbow Bridge Page and see for yourself. There are also some links to some Rainbow Bridge-related sites there; check them out, but keep some tissues handy. NEW Speaking of cute pics, I've got a couple of pics up now of the two furkids that became a part of my life, Al & Peggy. Click here to see the two cuties. MORE STUFF TO BE ADDED LATER |
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