Whiskey was the ferret that started it all! He was my first ferret, and he was everything to me. Before Whiskey, I had never seen a ferret before. I took a job in high school at a pet store at the mall. One day, a shipment of animals came in, my boss told me to open one of the boxes. I worked in the fish/reptile area, so I expected to find a lizard or something in the box. Instead, when the box popped open, this wild, furry animal LUNGED out of the box at me. I screamed, shoved the furry ball back in the box, and said WHAT was that?! My boss, laughing, told me it was a ferret. A what!?!

It took me all of a half an hour before I was completely enamoured by the ferrets that came in that day. I was amazed by them, in awe of them. All of my life to this point I had been a devoted cat person. But the effect that these critters had on me was mesmerizing!

I knew there was no chance at all that my parents would let me bring home a ferret. I could just imagine my mother's reaction to having a ferret in the house.... but there was one ferret in this litter that I just could not imagine not having in my life somehow. So, I bought him as a gift for my boyfriend at the time. Perfect solution, I thought! That was, until HIS mom had a worse reaction to meeting the ferret than I anticipated MY mom would have had. So, this little 8 week old ferret became homeless in a matter of hours!

I brought him home with me, in the hopes that I could win my mother over. She is, after all, an animal lover by nature. Just usually the animals she loves are a bit larger and "meow." But I brought the ferret who had already been named Whiskey home with me anyway. I put the cute little boy on the floor in front of my mom... and told her he was mine... and the reply... OH no, he is not staying here!

Tearfully I pleaded, tried to get my dad on my side. I could tell that my father thought he was cute, he was pretty intrigued by this new little critter that was bouncing happily throughout the house. But my father had already had years of practice saying NO to new animals coming into the house, since mom and I were constantly bringing new cats into the house (which, incidentally, always did end up staying...) Mom and Dad were solid on their decision. We would be putting an ad in the paper the very next day to find Whiskey a new home.

But of course, since you're reading this, you know how it ended... before the ad even ran in the local paper, my parents were just as attached to Whiskey as I was from the first moment I saw him. How could we resist? He had made himself so at home with us. I had bought him a big condo cage and lots of toys and bedding. He would run and hop and "dook" all through the house, wreaking havoc with the cats who had NO idea what this little pushy beast was. Even our dog, a German Shepard named Heidi, was intrigued. She enjoyed the little guy, and they eventually became good friends. Whiskey captured our attention and stole our hearts.

More About Whiskey: Page 2 >>