I occasionally check the Rescue & Adoption board and noticed a posting for a sable ferret that needed a home. I responded saying that I had a bunch of critters already, but if she needed a home, I could provide one.

Over the course of many emails, I learned about Sassy..

She was adopted from a shelter as a bad biter & previously been in an abusive home.

At her new home, the biting stopped as she settled in. She tried to play with one of the other ferrets there, but he didn't seem interested. As a result, a new female was brought into the home to see if that would help things. Sassy apparently didn't like other females and repeatedly attacked this female and one other that had also joined the household.

Her former humans had tried every method that I could think of to get these girls to get along, and nothing was working.

So, that being known, I was a little apprehensive about bringing this ferret into my home. But after many discussions with Geoff, I made up my mind and agreed to set up a meeting time to see if she would get along with some of my boys and maybe Tonic.

The meeting went just great. Sassy met Oz, Dook, Nilla and Tonic. She played for awhile and was sniffed by the other kids. At one point, she picked up Nilla to give her a good shake, but Nilla didn't cry or even seem upset. And that has been the only confrontation I've seen to date.

She quickly learned about treat time (a fairly frequent occurrence around here). When the kids hear the treat can being shaken, everyone comes running! Now I would have to say that out of all the ferrets, she is the worst beggar. She will continue to come back until you refuse to give her more treats. Even if I'm just handing out kibble, she's right there begging for more.

She has a few interesting quirks, other than her begging :) She prefers to squeak instead of dook. It's this loud squeak with a Darth Vader kind of noise that comes after it. It's really hard to describe but I've watched her play and she's just noisy about it, I guess. She's not hissing, (that's a different noise that she makes) just playing.

She knows her name quite well! I usually call her "Sassy Girl" and she will come running from anywhere in the room (even when trying to dig through the door). Like I said, she's a terrible beggar.. She's always running back and forth waiting for me to get the treats out.

She absolutely adores her hammock buddy, Orion. I swear that they flirt with each other. She'll run up and jump on him, he'll get all excited and jump back and on and on it goes. It's hilarious watching a tiny sprite (she's only about a pound) jump on Ri (who's about 3 lbs) and manage to make it a fair wrestling match!

I have a great digital camera and was able to get a few pictures of her. There will be more in the future.

3/20/01 - It is with a heavy heart that I announce Sassy's passing. She went in for her adrenal surgery today & never awoke.

The vet tells me she was just filled with cancer... That her liver was diseased & her spleen was twice its normal size. On top of that she had the adrenal tumor, which was the cause of her hair loss.

She was only four.... Only. That's way too young.

I've elected to have her cremated & will place her back in the ferret room, where she belongs. Jim Higgins of Widget's Halfway House is sending me a box to keep her ashes in. I still cannot even face the photo album to pick out a picture of her, as even writing this brings tears to my eyes.

Rest in peace, little one. We love you...

3/24/01 - I've discovered we definitely need to start taking more pictures of our fuzzy ones.. I went through our entire photo album & there was not one of Sass. The reason being, I received my digital camera for my birthday that year, so started taking digital pics of everyone. I have plenty of pictures of the fuzzies that came before her & zillions of digital ones. But not one good hard copy of Sass.

I went through all of Geoff's old pictures & in the last envelope, did find one of Sass & Orion having a blast playing together. It's perfect for her box.. Whew.

So now we wait.. Wait for the return of Sass & her box.. The fuzzy room is waiting, kiddo.