This one's not my fault -- all I said was, "Sure!!!"

So two days ago, I got a call from Gene at work that I never would have seen coming. Apparently the Animal Control officer found a poor, sad, starving ferret walking down the street, and it came running up to him. Since it was obviously someone's either escaped or abandoned pet, for some reason he called Gene. Gene then called me, and barely got the words, "Hey, you want a ferret?" out before I was shrieking, "Sure!" Gene came home with Raphael, two hammocks, a play tube, smell-good spray, treats, chews, ferret chow, designer food and water bowls, and litter.

 

Raphael also came with a cage, but I discovered the next morning that Raphael could come and go as he pleased just by walking through the bars. Naturally I used that as an excuse to head to Petco and purchase a Luxury Ferret Condo, which is five floors of tastefully appointed luxury living. I also got him some toys, backup treats in case he didn't like the treats Gene picked out, and a litter box. Since we wanted him to feel like he's found his forever home, we put his cage right next to the kitchen table where we can take him out and play with him whenever he wants cuddles. So far most of his time is taken up by sleeping, drinking water, and eating. He was so thin you could see his ribs, so I think he was probably outside for awhile. Raphael loves to ride around in the back of my hoody, and snuggles up in my arms and peers around.

 

Ceri is absolutely entranced with him, and Raphael must have come from a home with cats and dogs, because he isn't fazed at all by all the stares and sniffs he's getting. Since he's the same shape as Ceri's favorite chew toy, Blue Beastie, he only gets well-supervised forays out of his cage. Ceri keeps bringing her squeaker toys over to him and seems to want to play. He fits right in to our crazy indoor zoo. The best part is that now that Gene brought home a rescue ferret, he can't say a word when I waltz in with a rescue tortoise!

 

Our outdoor zoo is doing well too, although collectively everyone but the ducks is tired of the rain. Our backyard flooded again, this time even deeper, and the ducks are ecstatic. Unfortunately, the alpaca cabana flooded, so Gene has to build a subfloor and install it tomorrow so Woolimina has a dry place to bed down for the night. Shy Shy uses the cabana occasionally, but he seems to prefer sleeping in the woodline. My guess is once Gene finishes building the custom floor unit, he'll use it every night.