Ooooooo Weee! Boy did we have a storm blow in here this week end. Name you say? Hurricane Renee’. See mum got this call on Sunday morning about 4:30. The person says to mum "did I wake you up?" Coarse mum says "NO. "It was Miss Renee telling mum she was almost to the Buffalo exit, she was going to take a couple hours nap then call Miss Cathy R to have her come meet up with Renee to pick up the DMK kids that are coming to live here. Mum says "Okey Dokey." At 7:50 am another call comes in from Miss Renee telling mum that Miss Cathy R was on her way to meet up with her, was mum aware that mum was getting another challenge? (Biter). Mum says "yes sir’ee." So, Mum goes about her business taking care of old lady Kay, when mum gets home she finds Miss Stephanie here to drop off her kids for camp, then Miss Kristie pulls in, she says "did you get your messages?" "Nope." mum says "just got home." Miss Kristie informs mum that Miss Renee is on her way to Naples she will be here about 10:30. It was 10:25 AM right then. Soooooooo Mum says "what is going on? She was in Buffalo meeting Miss Cathy R." Well seems Miss Cathy R. was not aware she needed carriers to bring the kids so there was no way she could take them for mum, Miss Renee made an about face and came to Naples to drop the kids off. When mum got into the house she found lots of messages from Miss Cathy R. and Miss Renee. Mum gets some of us kids put away, gets Miss Stephanie kids out in the play rooms and in blows the storm. (We love you Miss Renee) Miss Renee says the first thing she needed to do is see the “little room” any biters in there? Then mum and Miss Renee went out to the car to get kids, mum brings the little challenge in first. We think her name is Bloom but we are not sure yet, mum says she needs to wait for her personality to come through. Anyway Bloom is settled in the store, mum goes back out to the car to see what next. Miss Renee takes a cage out with 5 kids all snuggled in the hammock looking at us with little questioning eyes. Miss Renee says to mum "pick your 4." Mum says "I can’t pick", so they, Mum and Miss Renee, decided to take the first 4 that popped their little heads out of the cage. Only trouble with that theory is only 3 popped their heads out. The other 2 held back so Miss Renee scooped them out and held them up said to mum "what one?" Mum stood there looking at them thinking how does she choose? They are all in the same cage snuggled up in the same hammock, and mum is going to tell one of them that they are being left behind? Mum says to Miss Renee, "what one is picked to go to someone?" Miss Renee says "neither." Mum plucked them both out of Miss Renee’s hands tucked them into the carrier she was using to take them into the house. Miss Renee says "hey that is 5!" Mum says "hey you're right, they will all fit in the one cage I have for them so they do not get separated." That is how mum went from 4 to 6 DMK kids. Then Mum and Miss Renee had paper work to do. Mum got the paper work done, Miss Renee had a cup of cocoa, then mum got Miss Renee’s kids out into the play yard for some romp, while Miss Renee cleaned up some cages in the car, then Miss Renee brought a couple of DMK kids to romp out there too. After Miss Renee left Mum was in stitches laughing at the new kids jumping and dancing. They are in the isolation room for now. Mum says they are beautiful kids, she can not wait to watch them bloom into wonderful happy fur kids that no longer have to fight for food, fight for a place to stay warm or to survive.
So that is the storm that blew in.. Mum is so very pooped.

I gave her another hidey this morning, one of the cloth igloos so she has a choice where she wants to hide. I gave her the play pen this morning for about 4 hours. I figure I will start her out slow and small. So far no bites, each time I pick her up she gets the bottle of ferretone and I tell her she is at the end of her journey, she will stay with me for the rest of her life UNLESS she finds a human she has fallen in love with then she can go.

I put her in one of the boarder cages; it is smaller and higher off the floor. I covered the front of it leaving about 2” from the top for some light, air and visual. I just went in to check on her to offer some love and ferretone. Must be she is well balanced and feeling safe because when I opened the cage she did not come springing out in fright. I tried to uncover her and get her to come see me, she did not budge. I am thinking this is the first real sleep she has gotten in a very long time. So I let her sleep although I did touch the bottom of her hammock to make sure it was warm.

Bloom was awake and peeking out of the 2” of space I have given her to be able to see out if she wishes; she was extremely agitated this morning. I had to put gloves on to get her out because she was having nothing to do with me picking her up or taking ferretone to get her out of the cage. However once in the play pen she bottle brushed and started to dance. Jumping and diving into the box of eggs, under the stuffed toys in and around the toy boxes and beds. She even jumped up and down looking up at me as I leaned over to see what see what she was doing. I think she is starting to realize she is here to stay, she is safe and going to be cared for. Still no bites.

Munchkin was just hilarious this morning she was dancing and dooking so hard with me she jumped right into the water bowl. I put the bed you brought back to her in the hammock I had in the cage, she climbed into that and is fast asleep. I have lowered her cover another inch. Munchkin almost walked out into my hands this morning. She is still very uncomfortable being handled. I have to actually catch her and hold her up next to my body to keep hold of her.

Munchkin came out into my arms this morning on her own; allowed me to take her to the playpen, she then calmly walked off my arms into the pen. She no longer has the cover over the front of her cage. She seemed to be distraught that she could not see me yesterday afternoon so I took the blanket down, she settled down and went back into her bed to watch what I was doing. She is doing so well. I plan to allow her the sick pen up here this weekend. I want to have more time with her but I am too in and out during the week to give her the extra time she will need in the bigger open pen. I need to keep her somewhat contained until she learns that when my hands come in she does not have to bite them. She has not yet gotten me but she has tried so giving her time to learn my hands are safe it the way to go. I am so excited that she has come around so quickly.

Well the name in its self is all telling. Put them in a room and the room looks like it has been hit with at category 5 hurricane. They are great kids, have learned quickly that when I lean over the barrier I am there to pick them up to move them. 2 of the 5 found out what a foamy fry is and they loved it. 2 of them took off to hide to eat it. I still have not connected the names to the kids; I intend to change a couple of them because they are really dumb names.

The DMK kids are adjusting well. The isolation and testing are complete and clear so they will as of today get to see the rest of the shelter and play rooms.

The little biter I am calling Munchkin; at this time she is becoming accustomed to me picking her up and does not run from my hands as often as she did. So far I have not been bitten but I figure that is just because I know how to handle a potential biter, so she does not get me. She was trying to for a while; now she is doing the biting for show more than to hurt. I expect in the next week or so that will no longer continue to do it for show. She has been kept in the play pen isolation room up until yesterday. She got to try out a smaller play room and did well. She even dances and talks to me now, so I expect she is starting to feel comfortable with me, and her surroundings. Time for bed… I picked little Munchkin up without covering my hands this morning. She did not even attempt to bite me.

Well, they are exactly what their name implies; there is no way you can walk through the isolation room play area after they have been out without having to step over everything that is not nailed down and then some that was nailed down! That includes poopy papers and food dishes. I have had to tie the dishes in their cage down with strip ties. Yes they are already using the crock lock dishes but they manage to move them, tip them and turn them up side down. I will have to write to the crock lock people and tell them there are not made for this crew. LOL The crew just loves human contact; they dance and jump like they have springs on their feet. They are a bit nippy but my best guess is they just do not know how to play with a human hand. They do not break the skin but they do get a bit rough if I do not pull my hand away after the initial nibble. They are starting to learn that they do not need to nibble to get my attention. The crew got to meet Donna D yesterday; they were so excited to see another human in the room. I do not have individual names for them yet, I need to see them as individuals and they are too “gang like” yet to do that. The one little girl is a fluffy albino, she is the fist to come running to me to be picked up, and I believe she is my Ping that has come back to me. All the kids are doing well, are fat and happy. I am one of the many humans to be blessed to be able to show a few of these kids there is life after Doug McKay.

When it was time for me to put little Munchkin away today I found her curled up in the blankets behind the bathroom door. As I bent down to pick her up she woke, looked up at me, allowed me to stroke her little head with a bare finger, I then lifted her up, cuddled her and kissed the top of her head as I tucked her back into her cage. She now feels safe.

Munchkin now plays in the bathroom and allows me to pick her up bare handed. She is still easily startled and will run to hide but she is getting better every day.

Category 5 crew have been moved into a bigger cage away from Crum Bum, Crum was upset that she had neighbors move in so she started biting me again. Once the cage that Scooter and Charlie was in was cleaned up mum moved the category 5 in, only mum opened up the top shelf so they could use the bottom part too. They now have 2 floors to live in. Mum has named 2 of them the little girl with the white head is called Scaredy-Cat , then the little brown girl is called Puck because she keeps running in front of mums feet and gets sent across the floor like a hockey puck. They are getting better about trashing the play rooms they play in. They are really doing well in their new cage.

A milestone happened this morning; I have been keeping Munchkin in smaller play areas because she is so afraid of every thing. She graduated into the library a couple of weeks ago, but she is so scared that she spends a lot of her time hiding in the tube that is wrapped around the pool of balls that is in the middle of the room, looking, watching and taking in all the activity around her in a safe place. The smaller of the 3 rooms I have been giving her have kept her happy and busy with the toys, tunnels and hidey holes she has to explore. This morning I placed her in the bathroom, normally she gets into the tub to play in the tubes that are in there but as I was walking through the kitchen she was standing, standing mind you at the barrier looking at me wanting something. I stopped to talk with her which usually sends her running to hide, but not today, she stood there giving me the “well is it my turn to move to another room”? I picked her up and moved her to the library. She immediately headed for the tube, however this time she got in the tube, turned herself around and started grabbing the toys around the entrance of that tube pulling them in with her. I believe she has discovered she is a ferret, free to roam the playrooms with no fear of being hurt, cold or ignored. I believe Munchkin has become one with herself. She has 3 more play areas to explore, I think, I will, this next vacation time coming up give her one more new room to test and explore.

Now for the category 5 crew; they are now category 4; one of the little ones was not exactly happy with the rest of the group, the last club meeting we had here, one of the members brought her single DMK kid because he was not fitting into the business she had at home. We discussed maybe Ping and her boy (I do not remember his name) would like each other. So Mary brought her kid to the meeting we allowed Ping and Mary’s boy the kitchen so we could supervise the introduction. They hit it off, chasing each other in turn and having a blast running in and out of tubes, boxes and under cabinets. Pushing balls and toys under the cabinets with them, Ping went home with Mary and her boy. The report I got from Mary this week is they are doing great and happy together.

This morning I went in to get Munchkin up, we have been practicing letting mum hold her. For no reason but for mum to hold her, she is starting to get use to me coming in to the playroom she is in, asking her to come to me by tapping my finger on the floor, so I can pick her up. Love on her for a bit then set her down. Up until the past 2 days I have had to cover my hands because she likes to take a nibble as I set her on the floor. But because we have been working on getting her use to being touched and held I tried getting her up with no hands covered this morning. Munchkin was a bit hesitant when I did not cover my hands but she came out onto them, as I gently moved away from her cage she rolled over on her back, rubbed her little head on my thumb. She then slowly rolled over on her side put her mouth on that same thumb gently closed her mouth, she let go and rolled back over on her back. I do believe she has finally realized she is safe and can be handled without fear. I was able to pick her up and take her to her cage at bed time without the ferretone bottle in front of her nose. She is now getting her tone on her belly, so she can get use to that for nail clipping. She has come so very far in just a few short months.

A new beginning happened today. I gave Munchkin (DMK biter) the library at 4:30 AM
She went about her business, when I was ready to do meds I left the ferret room stepping over the barrier into the Library to go to the kitchen for the kid’s soup. Today; a first for Munchkin I got chased and requested to stop to play. I did sit down on one of the sleep boxes; Munchkin began jumping up on me and talking to me in glee. We spent several minutes interacting with one another. She has decided I am safe.

The Category 4 crew has discovered the porch. The Weather has been nice enough to be able to use the closed in, ferret safe porch. The Category 4 crew is having a ball investigating a new play area.

Munchkin got into the rice box this morning; she discovered it is a fun place to be. Up until today if I set her in there she would jump out of there the second I set her in.

This morning however she was snorkeling in the rice. When I set down on the stool to watch her, she got out went up the tube to the toy box, rolled over on her back and tried to drag me into the toy box with her. I do believe we have a happy, centered little ferret now.

She graduated to another play room this week and finds it to be an excellent room to hang out in. she is now up to 4 of the 8 play rooms. The real test and the last room she will get to be in; is the Kitchen, it is the biggest, it is the most difficult to get them out of if they do not want to be caught, it is the one that allows them into my personal space. I have found that this room is the one that they get last because it is the most difficult to feel safe in. so for now she has learned 4 playrooms she is loving life here at the farm.

Brenda
Lakeroad Ferret Farm Rescue/shelter
www.ferretfarm.org

International Ferret Congress Vendor Coordinator
http://ferretcongress.org

Petfinder Page
http://www.petfinder.org/shelters/NY559.html

Shelter Video
http://www.kwflatbed.com/videos/ferretfarm.wmv