Thursday, November 24, 2005
Gone, But Not Forgotten
RIKKI TIKKI TAVI 11/10/02-10/10/07
Named after the Kipling story about the mongoose--Rikki came to live with me on 5/21/03. Rikki was my only rescued ferret that did not come from a bad home--she simply needed a new home. Owned by a deaf family from Canada, along with four other ferrets, a dog, a cat, and several children--Rikki came to live with me when her owners moved to the states and couldn't keep their ferrets. Her signed name was either "Bear" or "Smelly" (because she liked to smell things).
Rikki loved to give kisses and knew the best hiding/sleeping spots in the house. She was also the one that removed the stuffing from the sofa arms to create "hammocks" for the ferrets to sleep in. Rikki had bowed legs in the front and never ceased to entertain us with her peculiar hop, but she never let it slow her down. Rikki crossed over to the Rainbow Bridge a month before her 5th birthday and only three days before Winzig's birthday. Rikki's last pictures.
BANTER BASHO BADGER 11/18/03-1/1/06
To banter is to playfully tease. Basho's a zen poet. Banter was a blaze ferret and had a badger-like appearance, as well as the feisty badger spirit. Always leaping and bouncing about (mouth open, teeth bared, appearing quite vicious); living to torment humans and weasels alike; he was secretly a little mama's boy at heart.
Banter came to live with me on Valentine's Day, 2004. He had been named Piranha for his love of latching on and vicious attacking (not to mention the many scratches and wounds suffered by his claws)--his first owner had him a grand total of five weeks before deciding that he was a holy terror and that she couldn't handle him. Even though he was only three months old when he came to live here, he was very nasty. Banter did eventually tame down and became quite the little cuddler. He could generally be found lying across my feet or anywhere that I was.
Banter was only a little over two years old when he died and the cause was unknown. I had gone away for Christmas and was gone for a little over a week. When I came home, Banter hid from me, for the most part. I assumed that he was mad at me for leaving. Two days later, I came home from New Year's dinner to find him dead in his cage. I guess I have to be grateful that it didn't happen while I was away and that I did get to spend a few brief moments with him before the end.
BARON WEASEL 1/3/03-5/9/05
Named after the weasel in "My Side of the Mountain" by Jean Craighead George, Baron Weasel was a total Mama's boy. And sadly, he was a weasel that only a mom could love. Matt (my brother) and Sharon (long-time friend and now Slim's girlfriend) are the only ones that appreciated Baron almost as much as I did and saw how special he was. And maybe Pete, since Baron is the only one of my ferrets that never bit him...
Baron came to me in a rather odd manner. I received a phone call requesting that I take him because he was left behind when his owner went to college and his other cagemates had died. I met the owner's father at Uni-Mart, in DuBois. Baron (then named Charlie) was in a dufflebag sleeping and my first thought was that he was absolutely huge, stinky, and mean-looking! He came with no toys and laughed and chuckled upon his first tour of my apartment and all of the goodies just for ferrets.
I soon learned that Baron offered "Poison Kisses" (as Dar also discovered). Many ferrets will lick you as a means of offering kisses and love. Baron offered poison kisses, in that, if Baron started licking you, he was about to gnaw that body part off. Many attacks and bruises later, I realized that when Baron started licking you, get away! But regardless, he was a little cuddler and liked to snuggle up with me on a regular basis. Whenever I would rub his neck, he would get all fuzzy and happy--not many ferrets do this, most think you are trying to attack them and they go psycho!
Baron was also a terror to the other ferrets. His most favorite activity was dragging the other ferrets around by their necks and new ferrets would get grabbed and shaken as they were drug around. The poor new ferrets were generally terrified and would scream and end up soiling themselves. Baron just seemed to invoke fear no matter where he went.
Baron was scheduled to have a cyst removed on Monday, May 9, 2005. A year earlier, he had the tip of his tail removed due to having a nodule removed from it and the hair never grew back quite right, so he had a lovely "poodle-do" on his tail. He made it through that surgery okay and I hoped he would do okay with this one also. However, he began having trouble urinating that Saturday and when we went in Monday morning, I learned that his prostate was blocked. Due to his age (approximately seven years old) and the severity of his problem, I had to have him put down.
I would have never guessed that Baron would become such a special (and very missed) part of my life. He ended up being one of my all-time favorites. Banter still has difficulties too--Baron was his only playmate and his best friend.
BUD BADGER 9/25/04-5/6/05
Bud Badger (so named for his badger striped-head) wasn't with me for long, but his brief time with me was very special. He was a cuddler and spent many evenings tucked in my shirt as I worked on the computer.
Bud didn't get along with the other ferrets and had to be housed separately with his cagemate, Sassette. Occasionally, he would have it out with her too. With people, however, he was very gentle and loved attention.
He was rather old when he came to live with me (I'm guessing he was probably seven) and he had seizures throughout his time here. On Thursday, May 5, 2005--I came home to find Bud having a really bad seizure. He also had several strokes and experienced paralysis. I stayed up all night with him and had him put down the following morning.
Three days later, I lost Baron. Not the best of weekends--Mother's Day to boot...
DAS FRETTCHEN 1/26/02-3/19/04
A present for Blitzkrieg, das Frettchen (German for "the ferret") was everybody's favorite ferret. He was a ferret that could totally be trusted with anyone (except Pete, of course). He traveled with us half way across the United States for Matt's graduation from the Navy. He enjoyed car trips and would hang out peacefully watching out the window.
Dickey referred to him as "Depression," since he was unable to say his name (or Dickey being Dickey, he just didn't want to say it right) and he made special visits just to see this ferret. Dickey would actually get down on the floor and let this ferret crawl all over him and would spend hours playing with him. For those of you that know Dickey, you know how bizarre that is! :)
das Frettchen died at two-years old. We still don't know what the cause was and made weekly trips to the vet for fluid injections and new attempts to save him. Nothing helped.
I guess he was lucky to have those two years. das Frettchen was going to be sent back to the breeder (Path Valley) to be destroyed. The pet store (Pet Place, DuBois) felt that he was mean and aggressive and not fit to be a pet. His cagemates had been sold weeks earlier, he was caged by himself, and the workers were giving him raisins when he bit (rewarding the behavior--real smart). I persuaded them to let me take him (with the promise not to bring him back or sue them) and he tamed down within two days. Easily, the nicest ferret that I have ever owned.
BLITZKRIEG 2/19/96-10/15/02
Blitzkrieg (German for "lightning war") was my special little guy. He tried so hard to protect me from my abusive relationship. He would wait until the gentleman was sleeping and then would run up, bite him on the belly and run away. Eventually it came down to "the ferret goes or I go." Of course, there was no difficulty in making that choice.
Blitz gave up after Spaz died. He made it ten months and just quit. He quit eating, quit drinking, quit living. He couldn't deal with Spaz being gone. It was heartbreaking to see what he went through after Spaz died. It is for this reason that I will only have one ferret or many ferrets--I NEVER want to go through that again.
SPAZ 4/02/96-12/23/01
Spaz (because he was) was a present for Blitz. I was in college full-time and worked full-time, so I was worried that Blitz may be lonely. The abusive boyfriend decided we were getting Spaz, as opposed to his cagemates, because he was the only ferret in the group to bite me and apparently he was hoping to have a ferret on his side (it didn't work out that way though).
Spaz was diabetic and had numerous health problems, which was likely the reason he didn't live as long as most ferrets. He never totally bonded with people; his true love was for Blitzkrieg. Between the two of them, mass chaos ensued.
KOTO 6/22/89-2/19/96
Koto (named after one of the ferrets in the movie "Beastmaster") was my first ferret and a great little girl. I had her for eight years and she carried me through many heartaches and rough times (the move to CA, my mother's death, several years of an abusive relationship).
A very mean ferret when I got her, she paved the path for future ferrets to come and is responsible for my love of ferrets. Koto was the original sweater monster and was the runt of her litter, so she only had a stub for a tail. She went with me everywhere that I went and had great travel stories of her own. The number of people she bit is beyond count! :)
Named after the Kipling story about the mongoose--Rikki came to live with me on 5/21/03. Rikki was my only rescued ferret that did not come from a bad home--she simply needed a new home. Owned by a deaf family from Canada, along with four other ferrets, a dog, a cat, and several children--Rikki came to live with me when her owners moved to the states and couldn't keep their ferrets. Her signed name was either "Bear" or "Smelly" (because she liked to smell things).
Rikki loved to give kisses and knew the best hiding/sleeping spots in the house. She was also the one that removed the stuffing from the sofa arms to create "hammocks" for the ferrets to sleep in. Rikki had bowed legs in the front and never ceased to entertain us with her peculiar hop, but she never let it slow her down. Rikki crossed over to the Rainbow Bridge a month before her 5th birthday and only three days before Winzig's birthday. Rikki's last pictures.
BANTER BASHO BADGER 11/18/03-1/1/06
To banter is to playfully tease. Basho's a zen poet. Banter was a blaze ferret and had a badger-like appearance, as well as the feisty badger spirit. Always leaping and bouncing about (mouth open, teeth bared, appearing quite vicious); living to torment humans and weasels alike; he was secretly a little mama's boy at heart.
Banter came to live with me on Valentine's Day, 2004. He had been named Piranha for his love of latching on and vicious attacking (not to mention the many scratches and wounds suffered by his claws)--his first owner had him a grand total of five weeks before deciding that he was a holy terror and that she couldn't handle him. Even though he was only three months old when he came to live here, he was very nasty. Banter did eventually tame down and became quite the little cuddler. He could generally be found lying across my feet or anywhere that I was.
Banter was only a little over two years old when he died and the cause was unknown. I had gone away for Christmas and was gone for a little over a week. When I came home, Banter hid from me, for the most part. I assumed that he was mad at me for leaving. Two days later, I came home from New Year's dinner to find him dead in his cage. I guess I have to be grateful that it didn't happen while I was away and that I did get to spend a few brief moments with him before the end.
BARON WEASEL 1/3/03-5/9/05
Named after the weasel in "My Side of the Mountain" by Jean Craighead George, Baron Weasel was a total Mama's boy. And sadly, he was a weasel that only a mom could love. Matt (my brother) and Sharon (long-time friend and now Slim's girlfriend) are the only ones that appreciated Baron almost as much as I did and saw how special he was. And maybe Pete, since Baron is the only one of my ferrets that never bit him...
Baron came to me in a rather odd manner. I received a phone call requesting that I take him because he was left behind when his owner went to college and his other cagemates had died. I met the owner's father at Uni-Mart, in DuBois. Baron (then named Charlie) was in a dufflebag sleeping and my first thought was that he was absolutely huge, stinky, and mean-looking! He came with no toys and laughed and chuckled upon his first tour of my apartment and all of the goodies just for ferrets.
I soon learned that Baron offered "Poison Kisses" (as Dar also discovered). Many ferrets will lick you as a means of offering kisses and love. Baron offered poison kisses, in that, if Baron started licking you, he was about to gnaw that body part off. Many attacks and bruises later, I realized that when Baron started licking you, get away! But regardless, he was a little cuddler and liked to snuggle up with me on a regular basis. Whenever I would rub his neck, he would get all fuzzy and happy--not many ferrets do this, most think you are trying to attack them and they go psycho!
Baron was also a terror to the other ferrets. His most favorite activity was dragging the other ferrets around by their necks and new ferrets would get grabbed and shaken as they were drug around. The poor new ferrets were generally terrified and would scream and end up soiling themselves. Baron just seemed to invoke fear no matter where he went.
Baron was scheduled to have a cyst removed on Monday, May 9, 2005. A year earlier, he had the tip of his tail removed due to having a nodule removed from it and the hair never grew back quite right, so he had a lovely "poodle-do" on his tail. He made it through that surgery okay and I hoped he would do okay with this one also. However, he began having trouble urinating that Saturday and when we went in Monday morning, I learned that his prostate was blocked. Due to his age (approximately seven years old) and the severity of his problem, I had to have him put down.
I would have never guessed that Baron would become such a special (and very missed) part of my life. He ended up being one of my all-time favorites. Banter still has difficulties too--Baron was his only playmate and his best friend.
BUD BADGER 9/25/04-5/6/05
Bud Badger (so named for his badger striped-head) wasn't with me for long, but his brief time with me was very special. He was a cuddler and spent many evenings tucked in my shirt as I worked on the computer.
Bud didn't get along with the other ferrets and had to be housed separately with his cagemate, Sassette. Occasionally, he would have it out with her too. With people, however, he was very gentle and loved attention.
He was rather old when he came to live with me (I'm guessing he was probably seven) and he had seizures throughout his time here. On Thursday, May 5, 2005--I came home to find Bud having a really bad seizure. He also had several strokes and experienced paralysis. I stayed up all night with him and had him put down the following morning.
Three days later, I lost Baron. Not the best of weekends--Mother's Day to boot...
DAS FRETTCHEN 1/26/02-3/19/04
A present for Blitzkrieg, das Frettchen (German for "the ferret") was everybody's favorite ferret. He was a ferret that could totally be trusted with anyone (except Pete, of course). He traveled with us half way across the United States for Matt's graduation from the Navy. He enjoyed car trips and would hang out peacefully watching out the window.
Dickey referred to him as "Depression," since he was unable to say his name (or Dickey being Dickey, he just didn't want to say it right) and he made special visits just to see this ferret. Dickey would actually get down on the floor and let this ferret crawl all over him and would spend hours playing with him. For those of you that know Dickey, you know how bizarre that is! :)
das Frettchen died at two-years old. We still don't know what the cause was and made weekly trips to the vet for fluid injections and new attempts to save him. Nothing helped.
I guess he was lucky to have those two years. das Frettchen was going to be sent back to the breeder (Path Valley) to be destroyed. The pet store (Pet Place, DuBois) felt that he was mean and aggressive and not fit to be a pet. His cagemates had been sold weeks earlier, he was caged by himself, and the workers were giving him raisins when he bit (rewarding the behavior--real smart). I persuaded them to let me take him (with the promise not to bring him back or sue them) and he tamed down within two days. Easily, the nicest ferret that I have ever owned.
BLITZKRIEG 2/19/96-10/15/02
Blitzkrieg (German for "lightning war") was my special little guy. He tried so hard to protect me from my abusive relationship. He would wait until the gentleman was sleeping and then would run up, bite him on the belly and run away. Eventually it came down to "the ferret goes or I go." Of course, there was no difficulty in making that choice.
Blitz gave up after Spaz died. He made it ten months and just quit. He quit eating, quit drinking, quit living. He couldn't deal with Spaz being gone. It was heartbreaking to see what he went through after Spaz died. It is for this reason that I will only have one ferret or many ferrets--I NEVER want to go through that again.
SPAZ 4/02/96-12/23/01
Spaz (because he was) was a present for Blitz. I was in college full-time and worked full-time, so I was worried that Blitz may be lonely. The abusive boyfriend decided we were getting Spaz, as opposed to his cagemates, because he was the only ferret in the group to bite me and apparently he was hoping to have a ferret on his side (it didn't work out that way though).
Spaz was diabetic and had numerous health problems, which was likely the reason he didn't live as long as most ferrets. He never totally bonded with people; his true love was for Blitzkrieg. Between the two of them, mass chaos ensued.
KOTO 6/22/89-2/19/96
Koto (named after one of the ferrets in the movie "Beastmaster") was my first ferret and a great little girl. I had her for eight years and she carried me through many heartaches and rough times (the move to CA, my mother's death, several years of an abusive relationship).
A very mean ferret when I got her, she paved the path for future ferrets to come and is responsible for my love of ferrets. Koto was the original sweater monster and was the runt of her litter, so she only had a stub for a tail. She went with me everywhere that I went and had great travel stories of her own. The number of people she bit is beyond count! :)
# posted by Basho : 8:47 PM
