Goddess of Wisdom, Craft, and War thinks she's Tarzan...

[LindaM]

So.. Athena, my little 7 month old sprite, has taught herself something new in the last two days with a major success this morning. And as we all know, once they have learned something through their own efforts.. they do not forget it.

She thinks that she is Tarzan... yes, you heard me, Tarzan. She has taught herself the crafty art of climbing up curtains. She climbs them in the same way someone might scale a hanging rope or indoor climbing wall.

I now have a shower curtain with loads of tiny little nail holes in it and darned thread, from her climbing. Somehow she figured climbing the curtain would be a marvelous way to get into the shower this morning while I was showering. The next moment, all I see is a little ferret hanging on a curtain, gently swinging, and getting ready to climb down onto the bathtub ledge from it (Oh, my kingdom for a walk-in glass shower again...). Suffice to say, it did work exactly as she had planned, she achieved success in her mission of getting into the tub to enjoy the water from the shower, and after she was thoroughly soaked, expected me to help her out since the curtain doesn't work from inside the tub, and happily scampered off and rub herself dry in a towel I had left out.

And after she had dried off a bit, it was time for super war dancing and jumping on poor unsuspecting Loki and Hades. Loki was okay with it and joined in the war dance and wrestling, but the cat thought she was some wet monster out of h*ll.

I never thought that her unholy obsession (even the sound of a running tap is a siren call) with water would spur her to these lengths... but she clearly knows how to use her brain, so her name isn't in error, lol.

[storm]

Oh my goodness! That is hilarious.
Mine aren't big fans of water (Though Twiggy loves the rain) but my snowball is a monkeybutt. She tried to climb up a brick wall once. It is amazing their ability to figure out ways to get into and on things. There are few places safe from her and I have to be careful where I place items or boxes or she will use them to climb up onto something else. Come to think of it though, Snowball did go though a phase of digging holes in water. Poor thing, she kept digging and digging and she never got anywhere.

[LindaM]

Loki will snorkel my toes when I'm in a bubble bath.. and snorkel for toys in a container of water.. but other than that he isn't too into the water either. Athena by comparison is simply crazy, lol.

I don't have a day that goes by without me being amazed by something new with them. They are such interesting little things and they take life on with gusto!

Mine haven't really tried climbing the walls yet, Athena did try a little bit though, before losing interest and finding out the shower curtain is much easier for the task.

Loki used to get into the guest bathroom tub using the cat's enclosed litterbox, and he'd sit in the tub and unspin the metal screw plug of the tub using his little hands. And I'd tighten it back in, and he'd simply unscrew it again.

[Sherry]

Found Suki almost to the curtain rod in the living room one day. They were floor to ceiling drapes (headwall)
And now that your girl knows she can climb hanging things, it's all game
Living room curtains, clothes hanging in closets, bathrobes on the backs of doors, etc

[storm]

LindaM They often amaze me too, especially with their problem solving skills.

[LindaM]

Sherry Ugh, and just when you think you have everything ferret proofed enough... the they need to prove you wrong.. I hope she isn't going to start making my life h*ll with her newfound abilities. Amazingly though... I have only found Loki sitting inside the Christmas tree once, and not again, neither of them seem to care about it... so they are both pretty easy going about things. I do hope she doesn't teach Loki to climb like her though.. especially if what you say about hanging clothes. Loki has a belt obsession.. and he has already chewed up most of mine, so they get curled higher up over a hanger now, I do not need them figuring out that they can use the laundry basket to climb (which they do climb it to sleep inside it) high enough to jump some clothing and climb them, lol.

[Blue]

I wonder sometimes whether people who have ferrets have a distinct psychological profile. I mean, many pet owners would be quite unhappy with this behavior, but we love it (even if it's exasperating). We like having "naughty" pets! Well I do, anyway. Sometimes I wish Maisie were a little naughtier because she's an angel by ferret standards.

[LindaM]

Blue I dunno, maybe, though I seem to have had the luck of always having crazy or unique pets. I LOVE my babies. While I do indeed feel exasperated sometimes that it means I have to fix something or ferret proof something again (which honestly, even with 2 free-roam ferrets, I haven't had to do a lot), I feel thrilled when my little ones prove how smart they are. My poor cat is a retard by comparison, the ferrets always one-up (or several-up) him, but we love him all the same.

I think we see naughty in a different way though, we understand the nature of the ferret. Others will often tell me, "Oh how naughty they are!" or "They must drive you nuts. They're so naughty!" And honestly.. to me they do not seem that naughty at all, I think my two are incredibly tame and relaxed. Maybe we are just all crazy. ;P