Hideyhole Pawty

     Wow! What an amazing turn out for our first pawty. The theme was Outlaws and Gangsters and what a variety of costumes. I am glad I didn’t have a costume contest I would have never been able to pick my favorite one.

     Just a couple of the costumes:

 

     I can’t say there weren’t some glitches because the menu didn’t want to upload at first for me but half way through it finally did but that didn’t stop all the fun loving anipals. Magically a buffet showed up with everybody’s favorite food.

     The quizzes went off without a hitch and the last winner donated his prize to the senior ferrets of Heart of Ohio Ferret Rescue and Association. While we haven’t reached our goal of $500 we are now over 60% and that is more than I ever thought we would reach with a mini pawty.

     Stay tuned for the winner of the comment contest here on the blog. One lucky commenter will be getting a gift pack with some surprises in it. One item is a $5.00 Petsmart card. Good luck for those that commented.

Jo

Blog Anniversary and Event Filled Day

     Many of you knew that today was the day I took James and Manny for a walk along the Allegheny trail. We were going to walk about 12 miles originally but this morning decided that we were only going to walk about 2.5 miles one way and then walk into the town of Franklin.

     After a couple of false starts we got out of the house and on our way by 7ish. Judy (hooman2) and I discussed how we should work the walk and came to the agreement that the ferrets and I would meet her at the local coffee shop.

     First I had her take a picture of me wearing my brand new tee shirt from Pet Wiki holding James and Manny. Manny decided to be a ham for the camera and James was attracted to the bright colors.

     After that we started down the path towards our goal. I took a couple of videos but not as many as I would have liked. I think sometimes a picture tells a lot more than a video at times and this was one of those times. Videos will be uploaded at a later date.

This is the Allegheny River and across the way is the town of Franklin at this point we are headed south.

     After walking for about 15 minutes both boys decided it was treat time and they wanted one of their favorite treats. Feline Greenies they love them so much that they will do tricks for them. Again the video will be uploaded later. Off we went again only I noticed that the trail is lined with poison ivy and James wanted to play in it. Not an option I would ever vote for so we turned around and headed the other way. At this point the plan was to walk into Franklin and be early to the coffee shop.

     20 minutes later we were back at our starting place and now I needed a potty break and a few minutes to sit down and look at the map so I wouldn’t get lost. LOL. While sitting there I had several people come up and ask me about James and Manny. They were amazed at how active they both were and were they ever hamming it up for the attention.

     15 minutes later we were on our way again we stopped to read about the old oil refinery that had once been a crossed the river.  

      We went under a bridge and found the trail map posted on the billboard. the boys rested in the shade while I followed the trail line to my destination. Although they were a bit vague.

I snapped two pictures to show how far I was and how far I was heading

and it is at this point I should have realized I was going to make a mistake.

     See that bridge in the first picture? That is where I should have gone but no I followed the trail in the second picture. Now don’t get me wrong it was a beautiful walk and the boys loved it but it meant I went two miles out of the way and were now off schedule.

     These pictures of what remains of a 3,000-acre farm and thankfully it was at this point someone asked me what I was doing and I asked about the path to Franklin and found out how off base I was. I am sure my twitter followers had a good laugh about James ordering me around.

     Now I knew I needed to some how get back on schedule as close as I could before Judy got worried. Lets just say I know I can hoof two miles with two ferrets in their carrier and a five-pound backpack in a decent amount of time.

     We rounded the corner to where we should have gone in the first place   and there Judy was getting ready to bike in the direction we were suppose to have gone.

     Once the last effects of her scare wear off she’ll be teasing me about being wrong way Harrigan and that is a running joke in our house because I could get lost in a paper bag without landmarks to tell me where to go.

     And so ends the first year of Enlightened Ferret what a learning experience it has been and I sure it will continue to teach us many more things.

             

Jo

Air travel: My pet is not cargo!

     I was looking for ways to get to Bark World Expo and Blog paws West  that would allow me to have my boys with me. I started looking at airlines that allowed ferrets on board.

     The only one I found was Delta and while the pet fee was a little high for my taste I figured I’d ask about if both boys could fly in one carrier.

     This is why I am upset. Even though both my boys together weigh a mere ten pounds they aren’t allowed in the cabin. What! I am paying a high pet fee for my fur kids to fly in the cargo hold? Delta was nice enough to give me a number for Pets First. Sounds like a good start right?

     I told them I was interested in information on transporting ferrets that didn’t seem to compute all they wanted to know from where the flight was coming from and going to. Then asked me how many crates I would need.

      CRATES! I told them thank you for your time and hung up. The only other information I got was they would be unescorted. So my two beautiful boys were to be treated like a package. I am sorry but my boys are not fur covered animatronics things they are living breathing creatures.

     So then I remembered that a new airline had been started just for pets. They got to fly in the main cabin with someone that was a trained pet attendant. Okay great I can take my ferrets on a plane and fly to my destination. Nope No Humans but the pilots and the attendant allowed. Now Pet Airways prices are great for the traveling pet.

     I would deal with my own issues and let them fly alone to our destination. My only problem now is that they don’t fly out of the two airports that are closest to me.

     Now I guess I have to work to either get Pet Airways  into one of the airports near me or find out just why ferrets can’t fly in the cabin.

     What do you think the reason might be for NOT allowing ferrets in the cabin?

 

A very frustrated and upset,

Jo

Countdown to Walk and Pawty for Senior Ferrets

     Wow I am really behind on posting. Been a bit hectic around here trying to get the last touches on Saturday’s walk and pawty and other things including being a part of a flea market on Sunday from 8am to 5 pm. Opps forgot the sunscreen.

                        

     I was excited to have my first guest post on Blogpaw’s blog (link here). It was fun to write it from James and Manny’s point of view. It was also good practice for the writer in me.

     James and Manny attended the  June High Fashion Model pawpawty  in their new look by Kitten Boi designs. Didn’t he do a wonderful job?

     The three of us will be doing a 5-mile walk from Franklin, PA to the Belmar parking area of the Allegheny Trail . While originally I had planned on a 21-mile walk I realized that walking with ferrets for that distance was just asking for trouble.

     Pawpawty is June 26 from 6 to 11p.m. Eastern Standard Time. The theme is outlaws and gangsters so come as your favorite one or if you can’t find the right attire come as you are. They can be from history or fictional. Manny is going as Clyde from Bonnie and Clyde. James is going as his twisted namesake Jessie James.

 

     There will be tunes and noms along with some prizes. All to help the senior ferrets at Heart of Ohio Ferret Rescue and Association . Our goal is to reach $500 but donations although appreciated are not required come and have a good time.

Please RSVP here      So that you maybe included in the grand prize drawing at the end of the pawty.

Before I forget Welcome to my followers both old and new. I hope you have or will find something interesting here.

Jo

A Year old and still Learning

     Wow it’s hard to believe that Enlightened Ferret is almost a year old already. So much has happened since I first started this blog. I didn’t know that it would help people understand these small little creatures and their crazy owners.

     I also never thought it would bring me into a community of other like-minded people on twitter let alone to a pet conference where I got to interact with so many other people.

     In celebration of the blog turning a year old and the walk James and Manny will be doing soon we are going to have a twitter pawty on June 26^th from 6-11 pm EST (Eastern Standard Time).

      The theme is outlaws and gangsters. The pawty is to help raise money for Heart of Ohio Ferret Rescue and Association to help the senior ferrets that reside with them. The hash tag will be #hideyhole please RSVPS here  Come as your favorite outlaw/gangster as we eat, dance, and trivia towards a goal of $500. There will also be prizes.

     This is pawty with a goal but no one is obligated to donate. This is meant to be a fun time. Please realize that twitter sometimes doesn’t post in a timely manner or does it so quick that it is lost among other posts it also depends on if the fail whale eats your post. If you feel that you have been overlooked please retweet the post again. We anipals are not snobby but posts do get missed sometimes.

     The walk James, Manny, and I were going to do was suppose to be 21 miles long but with the way PA weather has been it will be reduced to 12 miles.

     This allows for ferret adventures that means allowing James and Manny time to sniff the area, potty breaks, and playtime in a new place.

     It also means I won’t be carrying more weight than I can handle for too long. I will be doing a video(s) of the walk and posting it to YouTube when we are finished. At this time the walk is planned for June 26 but depends on the weather for the day.

 

     Who knows where another year will take us but hopefully you will be long for the ride.

 

Chitters,

Jo

Wordless Wednesday

Captions and comments are welcomed and appreciated.

 

Jo

Wordless Wednesday

 

 

 

Captions and comments welcomed

Jo

Lance’s Legacy

      It’s strange what will trigger the pangs of grief. I finally got up the nerve to clean the ferret’s playroom. It has been something I’ve been avoiding doing cause I knew I would find all of Lance’s hidey-holes although I haven’t because I couldn’t keep cleaning because in just one corner of the room I found 4 stashes. 

     Now most ferrets will collect a variety of things but not my Lance his passion was socks. It didn’t matter if they were clean or dirty, rolled up, in singles or paired. If it looked like a sock it was his.

     So far I have found a total of 16 socks hidden away and piled neatly in each spot. I thought I would be ready for the pain that has followed but I was wrong. I had to stop cleaning because of the tears that were blinding me from seeing what was in front of me.

      I miss him so much now don’t get me wrong I love my other boys but Lance managed to wrap those tiny little paws snuggly around my heart like no other pet has ever done. I am sure he would be proud of me for donating to our chosen charity in his name but it still doesn’t lessen the pain.

Jo