A legend passes at the funhouse.

Today, a Ferretwise and Ferretfunhouse legendary ferret passed
away.  JJ, ( Jerimiah Junior ), passed away quietly this afternoon,
finally succumbing to the lymphoma  that had been troubling him.
He is now playing with his good buddy Austin who was waiting for
him.
JJ was one of the best little guys that has resided here, not to
say that I don't love all the little guys that stay here, but JJ
had such a fun personality. He loved to be held and was
always ready to play. He was one of the stars of our trips into
the Boston Children s Museum along with his buddy Austin.
He went in every year except this past spring, when I thought
it would be too exhausting for him. I almost brought him
anyhow, because when I went in to get Picasso and Darkstar,
JJ came out doing the happiest war dance! But I left him home
to rest.
JJ pretty much only got along with Austin and would snap at
anybody else. I tried a few times to get him a new roommate
with no luck, until Picasso came along. They just hit it off and
were roomies til the end. I believe Picasso gave JJ an extra
year from the companionship. Well, that is all I have to say,
we're gonna miss you buddy. Have fun playing!

Boston Children's Museum, May 15th 2010

On Saturday May 15th, 2010 Ferretwise was in Boston at the
children's museum for our annual critter day appearance. It was
great fun. I went in with Picasso and Darkstar this year. JJ having
retired from public service due to age and health issues. Although,
I almost brought him instead of Darkstar, because the evening
before, I went into their room to do the nightly cleaning, and was
greeted by JJ war dancing all over the room! He was in quite
high spirits. but I decided he didn't need the stress and let him
have his well earned peace and quite!
    I packed all the necessities up the night before because I
wanted to be on the road by 8:30am so we could arrive at
10:30am and have time to set up and get settled in. Picasso
and Darkstar are not normally roommates but get along well.
I got the spare traveling carrier ready with bedding, water
bottles, and a litter box and we were ready to go.
    We got in there on time and arrived to find everything all
set up because Dino and Susan got there a little earlier. Skyla
showed up with her 2 kid's so we had a total of 6 ferrets to
meet and greet all the children. We had a playpen for 2 of them
to be out playing while 2 would be held for the the children
to get a closer look at, the other 2 would be resting. We used
shifts of a half hour, so nobody would get too tired.
    We were there on exhibit between 11am to 3pm, and towards
the end, even with the scheduled resting, Darkstar was getting
very cranky. She wouldn't let Susan hold her, she would nip,
so I had to keep her calm, and Susan held Picasso, who likes
everyone. All and all it was good fun, and we educated a bunch
of kid's about ferrets. I would love to name the other ferrets that
were there, but I can't remember their names. The only one I do
remember is Elric, who is Dino's boy, but I can't remember who else.
Alicia, if you read this feel free to chime in and post a comment
listing who else.
    As usual, I will post a picture up here when I get home, took it
on the Iphone. That was 2 post's in one day! I am worn out now! :-)

Ozzie takes the Rainbow bridge

I have been far to lazy about posting here, things have been way
too busy. The first bit of news I will write about is sad. Ozzie,
the dark eyed white boy who lived with Sasha and Darkstar
has passed on May, 11th 2010 at the ripe old age of 8 and
is playing with Lil and his friends from Ferretwise. He
came to the funhouse about 4 years ago from the Ferretwise
shelter, back in the days when the shelter room was still
there! Seems like a long time.

  Ozzie came here because he had a taste for Alicia, more
specifically her upper legs. When she went into the room
wearing shorts, Ozzie would jump up and take a bite! It
wasn't just her, he apparently didn't like female people,
something about when he was younger and with a family
that had little girls that would tease him. Alicia told me
if I didn't take him she would have to put him down, I
knew this was not true, she wouldn't do that just because
he bites, look at Jeremiah! But I took him anyhow
because we got along, and Sasha liked him.

  That is not to say he didn't still bite, he got me on the
legs a couple of times, and on one memorable occasion,
got up Dr G's pant leg and bit him on the ankle! Good
lord that was something. Fortunately Dr. G is good
natured and let it slide. Ozzie didn't get to run around
the exam room when he was in there anymore, but that
was that. He took good care of Ozzie right till the end.
Ozzie didn't want to leave and we had to help him along,
but he will be remembered. I will stick a picture up here
when I get home later.

Darkstar joins the funhouse

This post is a long time coming, Darkstar has
actually been here since Christmas, but the
circumstances of her arrival are too funny to
not have a post.
On December 13th, I traveled out to Ferretwise
with Ozzie and Sasha so they could meet their
prospective new roommate, Darkstar. This was
a dual purpose trip, going to meet Darkstar,
and the shelter Christmas party. We got out
there in good time, it is a 2 hour ride, but
the kids slept most of the way, ( This is NOT
how the trip home was!). When we arrived we
went up to meet star.
They were let out to play and all seemed well,
there was much butt sniffing and running around.
It no fighting was evident so we went off to the
restaurant. When we got back, everyone was
sleeping. So it was determined that Darkstar
was accepted by the powers that be, Sasha and
Ozzie.
It started snowing, so that was looking to make
the trip home fun, good thing I brought the truck!
We put everyone away in the carrier, which is the
top of Sasha and Ozzie's condo. There were a
couple of dirty looks from Sasha as she realized
that Star was coming with us. The real fun didn't
start until we got going.
About 30 minutes into the trip, Sasha voiced her
opinion about having a new roommate. The carrier
started bouncing around and they drowned out my
radio with the screeching. I pulled over and
separated them, putting Darkstar inside of her
cube so she would feel safe, and Sasha on the
other side of the carrier with Ozzie. Ozzie
kept out of the whole affair. Quiet lasted
for a good hour as they must have fallen
asleep. But as we got into Rochester, Sasha
went looking for Star and the fight resumed.
I opened the top and grabbed Sasha from the
fight, unknown to me while I was doing this
Star slipped out of the carrier. I discovered
this little development in a few moments when I
heard rustling behind my seat. So I had to pull
over and stop so I could search for Star, who
didn't want to be found. Eventually I did and
for the rest of the trip, about 10 minutes,
I held here inside my coat. This was a trick,
since the truck has a manual transmission. We
finally got home and I let them out to roam in
the ferret room. They get along a little better
now, with only an occasional scuffle. Darkstar
is settled in and used to her surroundings, so
she takes no crap from Sasha anymore. I wil post
a picture later on.

A sad day at the funhouse

I am sad to report that Lil, the oldest of my bunch, passed away this
morning at about 11 am. She succumbed to the melanoma. She
lived to the ripe old age of 8 years and 3 months. A feat surpassed
at this house only by Mishka, who made it to 9. I had to go off
this morning and have some oral surgery performed, a wisdom
tooth that needed to come out because there was a cyst in there
pushing it into my jaw. The cyst is benign, so that is good.
Lil being the sweetheart that she was waited until I got back so we
could say goodbye, she passed on in my arms. So now she can play
with her brother Phil, and her cage mates Starlight, Sinbad, and,
Snowdrop again.
Lil was a really good girl, but she had her sneaky streak too. For
the longest time her favorite game was to wait at the door when she
knew I was coming and try to sneak out. This is how I acquired the
automatic reflex of bending over and reaching for a ferret whenever I
enter the room. One of the best escapades that happened because
of her adventurous nature is documented in the posting of
Tuesday September 12, 2006 .
I will miss Lil a lot, she was here from the time she was 8 weeks old
and I believe she liked living here. Lil and her brother Phil were new
to this house when the house was new. They were named after
the twin babies on the Nickelodeon cartoon Rugrats. Bye bye
Lil, we all loved you dearly!

Phil is on the left and Lil is hanging on the side.This is the day they arrived

Latest news from the Funhouse

Last time I posted anything was when Picasso arrived and became JJ's roomie, that was the end of July. Since then things have gone on in a relatively
peaceful fashion. Picasso was a little shy when he first moved in, but
that changed as soon as he became accustomed to the place. He is now
what I would refer to as the biggest wise ass of a ferret I have seen in a
long while. When he and JJ come out to play, he is going 100 miles an hour
or so. He is a jumper, he pounces on my shoes, ankles, shins, whatever
he can get at. If I am wearing shorts, I have to put him away until I finish
the litter box cleaning or I won't get it done. He certainly keeps JJ active.
One thing I wish he would stop, is his decision that the rice bucket is a
litter box. Nobody has ever done that until he got here. I caught him red
handed at it a few times. He is very unapologetic about it. Oh well, what
are you going to do. He has definitely livened things up. I will post some
pictures later on.
We also saw a couple of birthdays, the matriarch of the crew, Lil, turned
8 years old in August, hooray! She is slowing down a bit, but still gets
around and has her treats and soup. She has her routine she goes
through every morning, because she is senior ferret of the crew, she gets
the daytimes out while I am at work. In the morning I get soup ready for all,
I have my own special recipe, which seems to be a hit with the crew. I heat
up bowls full in the microwave and serve. Lil is last because she eats out.
I bring Picasso and JJ their soup, which they tuck right into, then I grab
Ozzie and Sasha and put them in with theirs. Ozzie is awesome, you can
hear him drinking his soup from across the room like a dog in a water bowl.
Then I bring in Lil's and take her out, give her a hug and set her down for
her soup. She likes me to dip my finger in and let her sample a couple of
times, before she eats. After she eats she goes over to the tube and
crawls through, stopping in the middle a couple times for a few minutes
of grooming. After that she stops by the other guys houses to say hi, then
she goes in the playhouse for a nap. Again, some pictures will appear soon.

September was JJ's 7th birthday, he looks pretty darned good for such an old
fart. He still gives me a war dance every day when he comes out, and hates
to be held for too long. He and Picasso get time out from when I get home
until I go to bed. This is when I clean out the litter boxes, so they have great
fun staying as much under foot as possible. After that they get their cookies,
Totally Ferret treats, and then they play. JJ doesn't fit in the tube anymore,
so Picasso can hide there from him. This is because of the prednisone JJ
must take for his melanoma. Seems to be working so far, he doesn't know
he's sick. Maybe next time we do the Childrens Museum the 2 of them can go.
That would be fun.
Well, I have spent enough time for now. Those are the latest happenings
from the Ferret Fun House. If you want my Ferret soup recipe, send an email and I will type it up. It changes sometimes depending on what is on hand,
but the kids like it. Chow for now.

Picasso joins the funhouse!

Last Sunday I drove out to Ferretwise for a cookout and to pick up a
new friend who has moved into the "fun house". His name is Picasso,
he comes from down in Massachusetts somewhere. His human
couldn't care for him because he liked to dig into the couch and was
a rough player with the other ferrets. So he moved in with me and my
guys. He turns out to be a very sweet little guy. He is still unsure of
himself at the moment, but is getting used to things.

He was either going to move in with Ozzie and Sasha or JJ, I was
hoping JJ would accept him, he's starting to get a little funny all alone.
He had a 3 hour drive up to where I got him and got to hang around
in a playpen while we humans socialized. He had fun it seemed.
One of the funniest moments came when one of the people, I for
the life of me cannot remember her name, was visiting him and she
said, "He pooped and it is firm and well formed!", everyone let out
a cheer. Then we laughed at ourselves. We are an odd bunch for
sure. ( There were fears he had ingested some of the couch he had
liked to dig in, thus blocking things ).

Anyhow, after all the cookout fun, I collected Picasso and we had a 2
hour drive home, he slept the whole way. Now the fun could begin, but
it turned out not to be as bad as I thought. I brought Picasso in and
stuck him out with JJ and JJ did NOT tear right into him as he usually
does with other ferrets. A few minutes of obligatory butt sniffing went
on and then they went about their business! I was ecstatic! It seems
JJ had a new room-mate. There was a tense moment or two in the
playhouse when JJ did a little authority asserting, but other than that
things went smoothly. Huzzah! The only other problem happened
when I put them away so Ozzie and Sasha could come out. JJ tore
into Picasso for some reason, so I grabbed Picasso out and put
him down on the floor and had a few words with JJ. When I put Picasso
back in, JJ was sweet as pie, I even caught him grooming Picasso. They
share the hanging tent thing piled on top of each other. So all is well.
He hasn't acquired a taste for my soup yet, which is fine with JJ, more
for him!

So that is the latest fun from the fun house. With the new addition
the count is 5. Lil has her 8th birthday coming up in August, so we
will be celebrating a little. That is all for now.

Another Day at the BCM

Last Saturday, May 16th, I packed up JJ and some supplies, ( treats
and food for JJ, and paper towels, a plastic Market Basket bag,
and a scoop to clean up when necessary), and we headed into
the Boston Children's Museum to do a ferret "Critter Day". I
started off in good time, but at the bank discovered my ATM
card was broken so I had to run back home and get my checkbook
in order to get some cash, so that threw a wrench into the
works. For a while I kept the music down low so as not freak out
my little companion, but then I remembered he is deaf as a post,
so I got to listen to tunes on the way in. I still managed to get
there 10 minutes before we opened, but I had hoped to get
there at 10:30 to help with bringing everything up. Oh well.

Dino and I were on the second floor right next to the big chess set
with, JJ, Elrich, Destiny, Blossom, and Barney. Alicia and Skyla were
upstairs on the third floor with a bunch too, although I don't know
who was with them ferret wise. It didn't take long before the kids
found us and we were greeting them and letting them meet the
ferrets. We had a playpen set up for the ferrets to frolic in, and
so the kids could see the ferrets being ferrets. Dino's bunch was
out first, JJ couldn't be out with them because he doesn't get along
with other ferrets. We would pick up one of the ferrets and let the
kids meet them and touch them and answer any questions they
might have. JJ was resting up for his turn, which came soon enough,
after an hour or so, the ferretwise guys got tired, so Dino put them
in to nap and JJ got to come out.

He really liked the playpen and all the stuff that was in there to look
at and play with. He even used the litter box while he was there,
something he didn't do in his travel house, in there he just went
where ever he felt like. At one point on the trip in, he had his front
feet in the litter box, and was pooping on the floor beside it! He's an
independent ferret to the core. He liked to go into the little pup
tent that was there but never got to stay long because someone
would come by and want to meet him. He was such a good boy!
I was very proud of him, he put up with a lot that day and didn't
complain once! We met quite a few nice people and had a lot of
fun. We were there from 11am to 3pm, and afterwards, we
parked the ferrets and our stuff in a safe place and went to
eat. This gave JJ time to rest up so that on the way home he
could bounce off the walls of his travel house and generally
drive me nuts. Kept me alert though!