| November 1999 I lived in a townhouse in Lowell, Ma with my husband. I couldn't find all the ferrets to put them in the cage (5) before work so I left them out. This wasn't an abnormal occurrence. It was near impossible for them to get out of the house. They would have to go through the laundry room door, door to the garage and the garage door to the outside. I got to work and called my husband to make sure that he hadn't left any doors open when he left before me, and that he saw all the furkids. He said he had and did not leave any doors unattended. I got a call about 4 that afternoon from him saying that a neighbor had a ferret in her house. I told her to call her upstairs tenant because he had a ferret;. Well Jim went home and checked it out and it was my SusieQ. I panicked and said, okay then where is Buster. He could not be located. I had all these horrible visions of him squashed on the street as we lived very close to very, very busy streets. I got home at six, called the police, animal shelters etc to see if anyone had turned in a ferret...no luck. I searched the house, the neighborhood, knocked on doors, posted flyers, put flyers on cars, in doors, crawled under dumpsters, cars, you name it. One of the other tenants said she had saw Buster but would not touch him because she was afraid of him ;-( My other neighbor said Buster had wandered into his garage and he chased him out with a broom because he thought he was a skunk. Tell me, how could you mistake a light brown ferret for a skunk. This man's first name was Smart...his parents were pretty optimistic when they named him! It was 11:00 pm and I was giving up hope and in tears. Thinking that my poor Buster had no food or water since morning and was probably terrified. Another neighbor said some kids tried to catch him but he got away...more horrible visions. Finally about 11:30 pm I decided to give the neighboring parking lots one more look. In a dark parking lot, nearing midnight I saw a man working on his car. I was very nervous about going out there, but had to for the sake of Buster. I asked the man and he said "I think I know where he is, follow me." He lead me into a tenement building (I was still a bit nervous) up a flight of stairs, down a long hall, up another flight of stairs, another long hall, another flight of stairs to a door. He knocked and a young woman answered. He said is the ferret still here? She said yeah, he wandered out onto my deck. They led me to the deck and I reached under a old chair and felt a warm bulge in the underside of the chair, I raised it and my beloved little Buster's nose popped out. I almost kissed everyone there. Buster got so many hugs and kisses he thought I lost my mind. I was touched though, I got kisses back from a non kissing ferret. Buster has since passed (6/26/00) due to an incurable illness but he will always be treasured in my heart. October 2001 I had since the previous story left my husband and moved to an apartment in Ayer, MA. It was a typical apartment building set up with security doors and you need to be buzzed in. I now had seven ferrets. I was getting ready to leave for work and was unable to locate Rascal. I knew there was no way he could get out as I hadn't opened the door since the day before and I had seen him minutes earlier. I left for work. After work I had to go to school so I didn't get home until after 11:00 pm. When I entered the building I saw my door was open! I rushed in and nothing was amiss, but I couldn't find Rascal anywhere. I panicked and called my ex-husband who came right down to help me search. None of the other tenants had seen him. I searched outside, parking lots, dumpsters, people's decks, the woods surrounding the building I contacted neighboring companies, made flyers, called the management company. I even climbed into some drainage pipes! No luck. It was late and the temperature had dropped tremendously. I had no choice but to put out carriers, food and water and lots of bedding and call it a night. It was almost 3 am. I woke at six and began the search again. I called in sick to work and searched, drove around, stopped at vet's offices. Each time I saw a squirrel in the road I would have to stop and look (Rascal was a Silver Mitt). No luck. I would not give up hope. Rascal and I had fought many battles together and his life would not end like this. Around noon I walked around the building again. I started peeking in people's patios. I reached my neighbor's patio and saw, curled up by their back door a chubby gray body. My heart leaped. Rascal I called softly, no movement. I jumped down, still no movement...on no my poor baby froze to death without me there to save him. I sadly reached down to touch his beautiful soft fur, his little head popped up and immediately kissed my hand! Rascal was safe!!!!!! To this day I wonder what those neighbor's thought. I know he must have been scratching at their door all night! These little guys are pretty smart. They get cold or scared, they go to people and housing to warm them up and care for them. It may make them harder to find, but at least they go to safety. Rascal has also since passed on (8/3/02), but my heart will always warm with the vision of his mischievous little face. I miss him dearly. November 2001 Gus is my deaf, panda fat boy. I occasionally let the ferrets onto my patio. It is below ground level and walled in with concrete walls. I went inside to get a cup of coffee and went back out to see that Gus was gone, he had climbed the 3+foot concrete wall. I saw him bouncing under the bushes. The way they grew, you couldn't really reach into the middle (they were very short and wide). I just couldn't get at him. It was cold and sleeting out, I was in my pajamas. I had no choice but to stand out in the parking lot and stare at the bushes until he reappeared. The neighbors must have thought I had lost my mind, soaking wet, 7:00 am in the sleet standing there staring at a bush! Finally Gus waddled out and I slowly reached out to him and he bounced back under the bush. After about 20 minutes he ventured out again. This time I let him get a little further away from the bush and then tackled him!!!!!!!!!! He would not get away again!!!! |
| Submitted by Amy Robbin |
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| Since then I've learned the little oddities of my apartment and have had no escapes since. Thank God! Amy Robbin |
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| Rascal says "Back home and safe....never leaving Mommy again!" |