Ferret Friday #12-Bathroom Blues

Ferrets are domesticated, but they still have many of the same urges as wild ferrets. Because a ferret's natural instinct is to back in to a corner to do their business, humans need to ~~block access to all corners~~ discourage bad habits by strategic placement of litter boxes in corners. Here, Bela is checking out one of the new bathroom annexes that serves the dual purpose of providing an acceptable toilet and blocking what would be the natural choice. If the humans keep the toilets area clean, ferrets will use the acceptable spots more readily. By paying attention to the natural habits, humans can learn how best to help their ferrets be good housemates. For example, a napping ferret is not going to climb out of a nest and go down three ramps to the big bathroom annex. He wants to do his business as quickly as possible so he can get back to sleep. Providing a small litter box near the sleeping hammock is one way to prevent messy corners in the cage.

We have trained Count and Bela to go to the bathroom before they are let out of their cage. Bela figured it out very quickly. Then, she figured out how to fake it even quicker. Poor Count took longer and would be left in the cage while Bela was free to roam. With a little help, Count has gotten the hang of it too and is now more reliable since he doesn't fake it.

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Can we Talk about Packaging?

Today, many people (myself included) use ancient chain maille armor techniques to create jewelry. Basically, artisans take small rings made of wire and weave them together in intricate designs. In this way, the ancient weaves are re-imagined for a modern audience. Samples of my work Zili Kit Although some people take raw wire and create their own rings, many rely on retailers for their needs. From that need, a growing cottage industry has sprung up to supply makers with kits that include all of the rings and instructions for a design. Most of these businesses use very simple packaging for their products. Zipper seal bags with simple printed labels are very common. HyperLynks kit For companies that are a little larger, heat seal plastic tubing becomes the most common form of packaging. There is one operation that packages per order so that the rings come in a long, unlabeled, sausage-like strip of tubing with a heat seal between each type of ring. Customers

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--a Peanut Buster Parfait, this time, a Mr. Misty,

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.

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