|
Post by runningdog on Oct 21, 2017 8:55:14 GMT -5
I can’t remember ever hearing of a UK pet shop selling ferrets. Not many sell kittens or puppies these days, either. I regularly see rats, degus, chinchillas, guinea pigs, gerbils, hamsters, rabbits, aquarium fish and sometimes the more common reptiles - corn snakes, bearded dragons, the smaller pythons. I wonder why not mice? I only know one pet shop within 50 miles of me that has occasionally had mice for sale. I think there’s been a fairly long-term trend here to phase out selling live animals through pet shops, and legislation on breeders keeps being tightened up to squeeze the puppy and kitten farms out of existence - and the sooner the better! On the biting front, Angus took another big step today. He got out of his hammock doing that ultra-cute stretch-and-yawn-and-slither all over your hands that they do, then found my wrist in front of his nose. He does have a weakness for wrists. He opened his mouth and was just reaching for my wrist, I went ‘ah-ah-ah!’ down his ear..... and he stopped before clamping down, thought for a moment, then licked me instead! It wasn’t a fluke, he did it again later in the session. He hasn’t been in the sin bin for a week! Given that leap to a new level of non-biting-ness, I let him come up on my shoulder without putting my hood over my head, and he didn’t even consider biting my face or ears. We had a nice cuddle instead.
|
|
|
Post by lyles on Oct 22, 2017 21:54:59 GMT -5
Oh how cute! I'm still surprised how neither of my current ferts don't even hiss in anger/annoyance/defiance, though Nei will do this thing where she postures in front of me and shakes her body and flicks her tail when she is fussing at me. lol
|
|
|
Post by runningdog on Oct 23, 2017 7:46:54 GMT -5
Angus has a very quiet little hiss - you have to be quite close to hear it, so it’s a bit difficult. If I’m close enough to hear him swearing, I’m well within bite-range! Another of my boys, Bane, hisses loudly and a lot even when he’s playing and having fun - he’s like the foul-mouthed street yob whose every other word has four letters when he speaks! The other boys, Joker and Loony, only hiss at Angus. Holly will occasionally hiss at the boys but both she and Ivy, whom I don’t think I’ve heard hiss at all, are more inclined to walk up to the boys doing pre-emptive quiet screaming and then take a nip at their noses! The boys all do the plaintive little squeak when a wrestle turns too rough, or when they’re being scruff-dragged across the floor too much - the girls just scream in their faces if the boys are rough. When they play together, the girls have little soprano dooks that are very cute - I’ve not heard them dooking with the boys, but that might be because the boys’ dooks are louder as well as deeper and drown the girls out. I had to laugh last night - I went downstairs ahead of Angus and he followed quite slowly, so I put my head back round the bannister post to see how he was getting along and he suddenly found my face sideways-on in front of him, just a foot or so away. I’m not sure if it was surprise or the odd angle, but his tail went out like a bottle-brush and he arched himself up defensively, then realised it was me and relaxed again - but he didn’t half hiss at me about it! A couple of accidental nips from Angus this morning, but he was playing very hard and pouncing wildly at his toys in all directions. He did let go immediately each time, as soon as he realised it was me and not one of the toys, and they were only nips and not deliberate bites, so he’s forgiven. I blame my slow human reflexes when playing with a fast flying ferret! The tail-wiggle and body-shake can be excitement as well as anger, I think - I can always tell if a ferret’s on the scent of a rabbit when they’re working because they’ll just look into an unoccupied rabbit hole, but an occupied one gets a sniff, a pause, then a tail-wiggle and sometimes a body-shake before they’re away into the dark. I’ve seen my boys tail-wiggle before they ambush each other in play, too, and they always tail-wiggle before attacking Angus, but then an Angus fight involves the whole range of posturing on both sides - arched backs, hissing, squealing, tails bottled out and even scraping the floor with their forepaws as well as the tail-wiggles and body-shakes. A bit more trust from Angus today - he’d climbed up the dog crates to see if I’d left the dog biscuits within reach (I hadn’t) and then decided it was a long way down; the crates are quite big ones because the whippets sleep in them at night so they need plenty of room (I do this in self-defence - if the whippets share my bed they push me out and I end up sleeping on the floor!) Rather than attempt the climb down, he dooked quite urgently, looking in my direction. I walked over to see what he wanted, held out a hand and he walked straight onto me and up my arm to be lowered down safely. It’s one of the great joys of rescue ferrets - these little indications that they’re overcoming their issues and getting back to being proper carefree, happy ferts again. It makes my day when he takes a step forward like that!
|
|
|
Post by Sherry on Oct 23, 2017 8:44:59 GMT -5
He has come such a long way with you <3 And yes, that was most definitely a huge sign of trust.
|
|
|
Post by runningdog on Oct 25, 2017 11:52:48 GMT -5
Angus knows something’s up. He’s a bit on edge, a little suspicious and nipping again - just wrists, his weakest weakness. He’s been helping me pack by wrestling rolled-up socks into submission and exploring into the bags and cases (at least I know my packing has been thoroughly pacified and is vermin-free!) though I had to draw the line when he tried to make off with a sponge. If it was a real sponge I wouldn’t worry but it’s not, so the sponge-bag was whisked out of his reach. We’re off on our road-trip tomorrow afternoon - his carrier’s been lined with a puppypad and there’s lots more packed, I’ve checked his hammock is secure inside the carrier, his bedding’s been changed and laundered so he’ll have plenty of clean blankets to take. I need to round up his toys and pack them - he’s stashed his best favourite toy mouse somewhere new, so I’ll be watching him carefully when he’s playing tonight! His meals are organised until next week - I’ll take a couple of mice for his evening meal in the car tomorrow and I’ve vac-packed fresh rabbit heart and lungs for Friday morning, together with three lots of chunks of rabbit foreleg, all of which are in the fridge and will be in a coolbox with plenty of ice while we’re on the move. When we arrive at our destination, I can freeze the fresh meat then - avoiding the risk of partially-thawed meat getting re-frozen. I’ll take some of our own quail eggs, I’ll be picking up frozen chicks when we get there, having sourced some local to where we’re staying, and there’s a good butcher in the nearest village; I’ll visit on Monday and pick up fresh meat for us both. We might even treat ourselves to a nice local trout! I washed his playpen in the bath the other day and dried it (it was last used outside and got a bit muddy) so he’ll have a safe space to stay in when we get to the holiday cottage. His leash, danger jacket and harness are all safely packed so we can go walkies and I’ve added his favourite rug so he’s got something familiar to lie on. His own dishes are going, along with a small bottle of salmon oil and the little dish he’s used to drinking it from (pampered little fuzzy!) and we’re taking some of the concertina-style collapsible tunnels along with us. I’m even taking his own hanging nest along, so he’ll have a choice of sleeping in his hammock in the hardshell carrier or in his nest, or in the soft backpack-style carrier in a heap of blankets! All in all, I’ve put a lot more work into his travel preparations than my own. I’ve just chucked some clean clothes in a rucksack, had the car serviced and checked my hiking kit is complete.... a few packs of home-made rabbit pemmican for travel food, a bottle of water and that’ll do!
|
|
|
Post by LindaM on Oct 25, 2017 15:07:12 GMT -5
LOL! That wee fuzzer is getting solidly spoiled rotten by you! I can see how you've wormed your way into his little heart and begun gaining so much trust from him. Well done to both of you, you've come a long way with him and it certainly shows. <3 Definitely sounds like he is ready to face the world! And you may have to worry that you forgot to pack something essential to yourself with how much you focused on him. The fun part of traveling, right? Where you think you forgot something but cannot for the life of you remember what now. I hope you guys have a blast! Show us some photos of Angus enjoying his trip with you, we'd love to see.
|
|
|
Post by runningdog on Nov 3, 2017 11:10:41 GMT -5
Not quite home yet but have come to rest at a friend’s house with good internet for a couple of days on the trek northwards, so thought I’d slip in an update. Angus has been a little angel. He travels in his hard carrier (better protection just in case) to which I’ve added a puppy-pad floor liner and a little hammock I made from an old towel and some tape, tied on with paracord through the ventilation slots. He loves it and sleeps most of the time we’re travelling, with intervals of clawing at the door in a ‘hey, I’m still here!’ sort of way, not a distressed or irritable way. We stopped several times on the drive south for me to stretch legs, get a break, etc, and each time Angus came out for a run around in the car and, with his harness and jacket on, outside the car. The dashboard in my car is perfect to put food and water dishes on and he could roam around and help himself at will for half an hour or so before we carried on. This was Strencham Services on the M5 at 2am. Each time we stopped and he had a run, someone approached me to ask ‘is that a-?’ to which my reply of course was ‘yes, he’s a ferret.’ He was very good about being picked up and shown to people and didn’t try to nip anyone! By the time I’d delivered a young rex rabbit (she travelled in the boot safely) in Hertfordshire and swung west to Exmoor I was ready to stop driving. I picked up the frozen chicks I’d sourced from a small zoo on the edge of the moor and then went up to one of my favourite places on the moor - Winsford Hill - where I parked in a car park by some burial mounds called the Wam Barrows, with some of the Exmoor ponies grazing nearby and views all the way to Dartmoor further south. Angus had a little walk on the moor - which I could probably sum up as ‘I’ve sniffed it, drank it, walked on it, pee’d on it, it’s done.’ I filmed it on the phone so if I can figure out how, I’ll post it here later. We reached the cottage we were using as our base for the week about 24 hours after leaving home and I set up Angus’s playpen as his home-from-home. He settled right in and stashed his favourite toy immediately. During the week he’s had the run of a whole cottage for a couple of hours a day, bitten one of my friends in an exploratory sort of way, been over a three thousand year old bridge (I had to keep lying down to fish him out of holes between stones. The locals must have thought I was crazy!), paddled in and out of the River Barle, been stroked by dozens of children (I kept hold of the dangerous end, just in case) and tunnelled into any number of fallen leaf drifts. We’re now in Herefordshire and we’ll be heading home again on Sunday morning, so we have a couple of days to explore a new garden and for him to find lots of new smells to chase. Further updates to follow!
|
|
|
Post by runningdog on Nov 3, 2017 11:23:22 GMT -5
Figured out the video and put it on Youtube. I think.
Angus Does Exmoor.
|
|
|
Post by Blue on Nov 3, 2017 12:47:38 GMT -5
Wow, he's come so far! From biting everyone to being safely approached by perfect strangers! You've done a great job with him
|
|
|
Post by runningdog on Nov 3, 2017 14:25:50 GMT -5
What’s really brought home to me how much he’s changed was an incident this afternoon. My hosts here were just preparing to put a nice joint in the oven to roast and the tin foil made the usual tin foil noise. Angus and I were at the other end of a big kitchen but he was freaked out by the sound and whipped round in my arms, dived his nose into my armpit and clung to my sweatshirt with all four paws, gripping hard. I stroked him and talked to him quietly and he relaxed again - but not even a thought of a nip, no hint of a jump for a hiding place. My armpit was his chosen hiding place.
I’ve become his safe place.
That is humbling. I’m so proud of him for daring to trust again after all he’s been through. The relationship we’ve forged over the past few months - bites, bloodshed and all - is such a precious privilege for me.
|
|
|
Post by runningdog on Nov 7, 2017 10:01:28 GMT -5
Home sweet home. We’re now back, washing all done, dogs retrieved from kennels, other ferrets played with, and Angus has crashed in his nest after this morning’s play session. Two more young hobs due to get picked up on Thursday, they’ll be living with the outside bunch in due course. They’re already used to living outside so they’ll be going into a spare outdoor hutch for now, they’re only 3 months old so they should fit in with the others, and I’ll make up my mind about names once I know them, and decide which to VS and which to neuter in the spring. That’ll be all for a while..... honest.
|
|
|
Post by runningdog on Nov 10, 2017 18:05:31 GMT -5
I didn’t manage to get this incident on video, alas. I don’t know if it’ll happen again! Angus had been downstairs with me last night, having a good rummage around the kitchen and generally creating havoc and mayhem as a healthy young ferret should, and I decided it was time to go upstairs and get him back to his bed - it was dark outside and I’m trying to keep him as close to natural lighting as I can, given he lives indoors and we’re a good way north and have short winter days. I picked him up and carried him to the stairs as usual, where I put him down down on the third step up, pointing up the stairs. Sometimes he carries on straight up, but occasionally he turns around, dances wildly down the stairs and goes back to the kitchen, which was what he did last night. Instead of following him, I decided he couldn’t damage himself on anything and carried on upstairs to plug the tablet into the charger, leaving him behind. I’d just got that done when I heard dooking coming up the stairs, and looked out of my bedroom door to see Angus come around the corner from the stairs and bound full-pelt along the corridor towards me, dooking on each step. He raced into my bedroom, straight past my feet, and came to a full stop at the bottom door of his cage, which was closed (he'd came out of the top one straight into my hands for a cuddle when he got up), then looked around for me as if to ask why I hadn’t opened the door for him. I opened it and he climbed in and checked out his food bowl, had a drink, then climbed up to his hammock and curled up. I think he knows where home is now! I weighed all the ferrets tonight - they’re all in nice thick coats and they’ve put on a good bit of weight for the winter, ranging now from the girls at 930g and 940g to Loony at a whopping 2.15kg! Angus is in the middle nicely at 1.31kg - he’s put on less than the outdoor boys, only 110g, while Bane and Joker have put on nearly 200g each and Loony’s put on almost 300g.
|
|
|
Post by Sherry on Nov 11, 2017 12:15:00 GMT -5
He has come SO far from where he was originally. He's come home <3
|
|
|
Post by runningdog on Nov 13, 2017 18:37:56 GMT -5
Got this of Angus this morning in his usual play session, just as he was winding down and getting to the chilled, where did I stash the rest of my breakfast? stage of things. He’s been discovering pillowcases recently so it’s getting difficult to keep my pillows in their cases when he’s out! I’ve tried giving him an empty pillowcase of his own but no, every pillowcase has in-ness and in-ness is something ferrets love to explore....
My bedclothes are apparently perfect for wiping a furry chin after the day’s oil dose, too.
This evening he came down to the kitchen for a while. When I opened the door to let him go back upstairs, he ran to the stairs, paused to check I was coming, then was off faster than I could keep pace with him! By the time I reached the top of the stairs, he was vanishing through the bedroom door and I caught up in time to close his cage up for the night while he finished his dinner off.
He’s so settled and part of the family now, it’s strange to remember he’s only been around a few months.
|
|
|
Post by Sherry on Nov 14, 2017 12:13:46 GMT -5
He really is comfortable in there now
|
|