Introduction written: 5/21/02

Kerplunk is the last of my "Brat Pack" left. At one point, there were three true members of this gang of bad boys who always caused trouble and were the anti-welcome wagon for any new ferrets added to the group. Sadly, earlier this year, Calvin Hob and Bino, the other two, passed away. There is one fourth pseudo-member of the group, that's Marty, but he really isn't a bad boy, he just wanted to fit into the gang. So now it's just Kerplunk, and without his buddies to razz him on, he's mellowed a bit (but not too much!).

I got Kerplunk in December of 1997. He and L'il Grunt were wedding presents from Chris and Tara Palaski of Planned Ferrethood. At the time, Tara worked for a pet store in West Chester, and she told me that I could go with her to her supplier to pick out my new babies. When we got there, there were so many babies to choose from, I didn't know how I could possibly choose! I had been hoping to find a champagne ferret, but all of the babies were much darker, making it even harder to find one that stood out, let alone two. But then I spotted Kerplunk - and the moment I looked at him, I knew he was for me. I picked him up and gushed all over him while I searched the rest of the bunch for my second baby.

After I picked out L'il Grunt (it was his big, beautiful eyes that made me choose him), Chris, Tara, and I walked through the place looking at all of the other animals. The three of us were passing the ferrets back and forth when Kerplunk nearly got a name that he wouldn't have liked very much. I was holding him, when all of a sudden I felt something warm... and wet... he had peed on me! Chris and Tara were laughing and I was holding my new little boy away from me, laughing as well. I passed the baby to Chris while I tried to air-dry my shirt, and a moment later, Chris hollered out that the baby had just peed on him, too! He passed the baby back to me, as I laughed and apologized to Chris. I was holding him out to my side, in case he peed again, and a dog that was walking around came over and sniffed the animal I was holding, and... you guessed it! That poor dog had no idea what was coming. At this point, my first choice for a name for this little boy was Puddles!

By this time, I couldn't decide if I should be laughing or worried why this little ferret felt the need to relieve himself so many times. I just held the little boy to my chest and threw caution to the wind. I think that's all he needed, because he didn't christen me any more. I just held him and comforted him and let him know everything was going to be okay.

I felt bad naming him Puddles, so I figured I'd wait until we got home to see if a less embarrassing name might suit him better. As soon as we got home, I put the boys down in their new room, and Kerplunk just tore off on his own. Any fear or anxiety he might have felt earlier was gone, he was home and he knew it and there was no looking back. L'il Grunt refused to let me put him down, so I just held him and watched Kerplunk tear around the room recklessly. He was running, and jumping as well as any 8 week old little ferret possibly could. He was so spunky! He would come running over to me and crawl up on my legs and into my arms with L'il Grunt, and then just leap out of my arms back to my legs, and then from my legs, he'd dive off onto the floor. Kerplunk! It just seemed liek a very appropriate name.

I had no idea exactly how appropriate of a name it was, though, until a few weeks later. Kerplunk learned very quickly that he could get up much higher than my lap, or my arms. I would open his cage door, and before it was fully opened, he'd leap from his cage shelf towards me to get out. He simply had no fear! It was the cutest thing. So I thought I'd learn to teach him a little trick. His cage was chest-high on me, so I'd put him on top of his cage, let him smell a treat, and then tap my chest with my hand and he'd LEAP from the top of his cage to my chest, where I'd catch him, and give him the treat. Simply adorable! He learned in less than a day that when Mommy taps her chest, he should leap from the cage to me. I was so proud! Until... the trick backfired on me! While I thought I was teaching Kerplunk that tapping my chest meant that he should leap, HE learned that jumping from something high onto Mommy meant he'd get a treat. I found this out one day when I was in the room doing chores and Kerplunk was out running. I was standing in the center of the room, not far from one of the cages, and I didn't realize Kerplunk had climbed up onto the cage that was behind me. A moment later, there was a ferret on my shoulder! Scared the bejesus out of me! But it was cute, and I realized right away that he was doing what I taught him. So, silly me, I gave him a treat.

The next day, again I was in the room, and the same thing happened... I was near a cage, not paying attention to where Kerplunk was, and apparently he climbed up onto a cage, and lept to Mommy.... but a split second sooner, Mommy stepped forward, and... KERPLUNK! I heard him splat onto the floor. I rushed over to him to see if he was okay, but he was already up and dooking like crazy, running around with excitement. Five minutes later, he was back up on top of a cage, ready to leap to me again. That was four and a half years ago, and still to this day, if I put him on a high cage and tap on my chest, he will leap to me. He learned with time not to jump un-solicited, only after "going kerplunk" dozens of times when I wasn't looking.

At the time of this writing, Kerplunk is 4 1/2 years old. He has insulinoma and adrenal disease, but he's doing extremely well regardless. He's as active as ever. His most favorite thing is medicine time - he's on prednisone therapy for his insulinoma and he just loves it. I draw his medicine up in a syringe and no matter where in his cage he's sleeping, I call his name and he is up and pacing the front of the cage in anticipation of his "treat." He's still the first ferret up and at the door when it's time for playtime, and if I open one of the higher cage doors, he will still leap to my arms before I open the door all the way.

He's a darling boy. He's never been one for kisses or any kind of mushy stuff, but he shows his love in his ferret dance at my feet and his insistance on always climbing on me any chance he can get. Mischevious, hilarious, energetic... in a word, this ferret is simply happy!