One thing about ferrets: they really do have a sense of humor.

Last night during playtime I noticed Minion behaving oddly in the short carpeted ferret tower. He was hopping and bouncing like crazy up the back tunnel so that all you could see was his head popping into and out of view. Thinking he was having trouble getting out (he is a little corpulent for a ferret, although still in a healthy weight range), I reached down to the lowest level to help lift him up from below. This lowered my face towards the opening in which he had been bobbing for the last minute or so. Suddenly I see him lunging at me, mouth agape and with a gleam in his little eyes. I was high enough to dodge the attack and he promptly fell back down the tunnel, chuckling all the way.

Evil little git.

Edit: I almost forgot Ysabell biting (but not holding on, thank goodness) my ear when I bent down to pick up Minion and Jack Jack. It didn’t hurt (again, because she didn’t hold on) but I was really shocked when that happened. Hyper ferrets are very dangerous weapons, indeed.

These stories should serve as a reminder that even relatively well behaved (*snicker*) ferrets are still animals with an instinct that may result in someone getting nibbled. Sometimes there’s even blood. Yet another reason why ferrets aren’t for everyone and should be considered very carefully before being purchased or adopted.

I love having them, though, and can no longer imagine life without a ferret or two (or three…) looking plaintively at me from the playpen (or wiggling their butts as they prepare for a very-likely-to-fail jump).

All around, ferret life is pretty good here. We’re trying to fit in more playtimes per day: they’re really hyper in the morning, but previously I had dismissed this as a playtime simply because I’m really grouchy when I first wake up. Today’s 2nd experiment with it indicates that I need to get over that though, because the carpet sharks had a blast. As usual, after one hour Min and Jack Jack were looking for good napping nests.

Hopefully not to jinx ourselves, but…I think we’ve got Jack Jack litter trained. I had to shrink the playpen down by a couple of panels, so there’s next to no “extra” room beyond the litter, beds, food and water. It’s been working well for a month now, and I hope in the next month or so to try adding the panels back in (with beds and such along the open side) to see if the training sticks. Here’s hoping!