Ferrets in the News

This weekend the New York Times printed a story detailing accusations of neglect and cruelty at a ferret farm in Pennsylvania. I don't know if the accusations are true or not, but the video is heartbreaking. Unfortunately, this is just one in a series of stories detailing the poor conditions that animals have been subjected to at breeding farms and pet stores.
Just a few days before, I heard this story on the radio detailing one LAPD officers efforts to stop the illegal animal sales in the fashion district of LA. The trend of animal as accessory has not helped this problem.
Responsible pet ownership begins with responsible pet acquisition. If you are thinking about bringing a ferret (or any animal) home, I urge you to consider adopting one of the many animals at your local shelter. If you are specifically looking for a ferret, our local shelter has ferrets frequently and the American Ferret Association has a listing of ferret shelters.

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In Memory of...

I was fortunate enough to be able to travel to Washington DC during National Police Week . While there, the Hubster ran the Police Week 5K and we visited the Law Enforcement Officers Memoria l. The memorial is a sobering reminder that so many have given all in the pursuit of public safety. Unfortunately, it was raining so the pictures aren't great, but the rain seemed fitting--almost as if angels were mourning with those gathered there. The memorial itself is surrounded by a beautiful park setting with trees and seasonal flowers and is composed of two curved marble walls engraved with the names of the more than 19,000 officers who have died. Each of the memorial walls is flanked by a lion protecting its cubs and keeping silent vigil. Seal embedded in center of the memorial plaza It seems that every day a new name is added to the list that will be inscribed just before Police Week begins. The park and memorial are beautiful and worth a stop if ...

Ferret Friday #5-Rice box

Ferrets are curious creatures that need a variety of toys and activities. Our ferret loves to dig, and one of his favorite activities is digging in a plastic tub filled with rice. We make sure it is not available at all times so that it remains a special treat. As much as he loves the rice, if given a choice, he would choose to dig in the dirt of my ficus or citrus tree. He also loves to "tunnel" under the covers of our bed. He is not normally a biter, but for some reason, he will bite any toes under sheets. My theory is that since ferrets are tunnelers and are carnivorous, then he must have some instinct to eat what he finds while tunneling. Maybe the toes are "earthworms" to him. When my kids were small, they also loved to play in their rice box. Their rice was multi-colored though. We have added a few PVC pipes (we smoothed all rough edges with sandpaper). Occasionally, we add some cardboard mailing tubes as well.

Queen of the Dairy

Did you know that the Dairy Queen Blizzard turned 25 last year? I remember when the Blizzard was introduced which makes me officially...old. Anyway, there was no Dairy Queen in the town where I grew up but there was one where my great grandfather lived. Do you remember when a trip longer than 15 minutes lasted fuh evah? When I was little, the 65 minute drive to my great grandfather's small town felt like an eternity. Maybe it felt so long because I was hoping for that extremely rare occurrence of a stop at the Dairy Queen. My parents were teachers and the budget was always tight, but occasionally we would stop at DQ and we could get a small cone. We never got to choose--it was always just that small vanilla cone, but it was a treat nonetheless. Once I was able to drive and had a job, those stops at DQ were almost mandatory when I ventured on my own to my grandparents house. I probably tried something different each time-...

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