By Heloise Cruse
King Features Syndicate
DEAR READERS: What fascinating little creatures ferrets are (we had four of them years ago), and they can make wonderful pets, but they do have unique personalities and behaviors. So, if you’re considering having a ferret join your household, a little research is in order.
Ferrets love to play. If you’re going to have one, you might as well have two. They will keep each other busy, and you’ll have hours of entertainment watching them.
One of their favorite games is to peer at each other from the ends of a long tube, preparing to run into the tube to see who can reach the other end and who turns around, then zooms out of the tube. You can make ferret toys by cutting holes in a couple of paper bags. The ferrets run into the bags and poke out of one hole, then another. They have so much fun, and you have fun watching them.
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It’s important to know that ferrets can be nippers. Since they don’t have sharp claws like cats (although they can scratch), they use their teeth to get what they want. Little bites can be a form of body language, or they’ll nibble your foot to get your attention. If they’re distressed, hurt or frightened, they will bite harder. They can be taught to not bite, once you’ve figured out why they’re biting.
The bottom line on ferrets is, learn as much as you can about these intelligent, energetic pets before you take them home. — Heloise
DEAR HELOISE: I have a travel hint: I tie yarn, ribbon or string on my luggage, but sometimes it comes off in the handling of my luggage, so I stenciled a bright-pink flower on both sides of my rolling suitcase. Now all I do is look for the bright-pink flower, and it will always be there. — Margaret, St. Marys, Ohio
Send a money-saving or timesaving hint to Heloise, P.O. Box 795000, San Antonio, TX 78279-5000, or you can fax it to 1-210-HELOISE or e-mail it to Heloise@Heloise.com.
