Sunday, August 22, 2010

Ferret Education 101

     Manny reminded me today why a pet owner needs to be alert at all times when outside of their own domain. It has been a while since I have had to ferret-proof because I hadn’t traveled much with my ferrets until I went to the Bark World Expo.

I got my ferrets a carrierPICT0697 PICT0696 that would be safe and secure for the ride down to Georgia in the GMC Terrain but forgot about having to ferret- proof the hotel rooms we would be staying in this could have been a fatal mistake but thankfully it wasn’t and reminded me that new places have to be checked and rechecked daily.

Can you spot the problem spots in these pictures?

 PICT0681 PICT0682 PICT0683 PICT0684   PICT0687 PICT0688 PICT0689 PICT0690 PICT0691 PICT0692 PICT0693 PICT0694 PICT0695

     If you have been following my posts you know that a ferret is a very curious creature and can get into mischief wherever they are.

1. While it doesn’t appear to be any problem spots in this picture. The desk at the end of the hall has a lot of stuff a ferret would love to get and hide some where.

2. There is no door knob on the door and it is locked there is enough room at the bottom for a ferret to slip under. I have no idea what is in that room.

3. The kitchen area. Lots of problems here. The space under and around the refrigerator. The same problem with the stove.

4. The dishwasher is the reason for this post. Most have a vented plate that goes over the 4 inch high space that houses the wires and motor for the dishwasher. Manny decided that he had to check out all those nifty spaces under there. I was lucky that he didn’t get his collar caught and that he didn’t go into any of the smaller spaces. I got him to come out with tapping his food bowl on the floor near the opening.

5. There is room under the television to get to the wires and some ferrets like to chew on wires and others like to climb.

6. Lovely view but it is six stories up and ferrets have bad depth perception.

7. May not look like there is any problems here. But if you lift the edge of the blankets there is no baseboards and the bottom of the mattresses are exposed. Great place for a ferret to try to use as a hidey-hole.

8. The mirror isn’t attached to the wall and could easily be moved.

9. An easily opened closet door leads to exploration of any thing that is in there. This could lead to ingestion of something that could be fatal.

10. The bathroom can have many dangers for ferrets. The most obvious is the toilet.

11. The trash can. Anything upright must be tipped over it is a ferret rule. Pick the can up and place on the back of the toilet. You’ll hear it fall and can immediately see what your ferret(s) are into.

12. The shower may seem like the least likely place a ferret can get into but the one in my hotel room swings both ways and the soap and shampoo bottles are placed on the floor. Also don’t want my boys drinking from the drain.

13. The bathtub. Once in they can’t get out and if you have just gotten out of the bath and not let the water out…

     Bark World Expo has been educational for me in a number of ways but I was influenced the most by my ferrets in a way that won’t easily be forgotten.

     How many of you have been educated by your pet?

Keep on Chittering,

Jo

1 comment:

Pumpkinpuddy said...

Looks like a ferret can get in trouble in a hurry! Those are good tips.

I named you guys for an award. Visit my blog at pumpkinpuddy.blogspot.com to pick it up.