Paco

Before we go much farther, I should tell you about Paco. I'm writing from a place of loneliness and nostalgia tonight, caught up in the reveries of good times and good friends long since past. I suppose that makes me haunted, and I wonder if my expression belies that. It's a good time to write of the one lost pet that will make me cry every time.

Paco was a cinnamon boy, with dark red eyes that shone like rubies. I had never owned ferrets before, but had studied hard to become something of an expert on them. I was deeply lonely and wanted pets I could care for without taking on the more conventional commitment of a cat or dog. I arranged a visit with a local ferret rescue, just to be around some of the exotic little creatures that had caught my eye. The first ferret I met was Frank, who you know I still have. Next I met Minnie, and I'll talk about her another day. Then there was Paco.

Already an elderly ferret at five plus years, Paco needed a forever home. The lady in charge of the rescue warned me Paco was well past his prime, but I loved him instantly as he snuggled into my lap for a nap. I stayed with them for hours debating who to take with me when I left. To rescue lady's delight and endless amusement, I decided to take not one, not two, but three fuzzies to start my own ferret business. (Here's a bit of trivia - multiple ferrets are called a business.)

I had owned dogs and cats in my life, but I never bonded with an animal the way I wrapped my soul around Paco. I crooned lullabies to him, I bundled him close and read my books aloud to him, and on the days when I couldn't take the unbearable darkness of the night, I held him tight and cried buckets of tears into his course fur. He never minded.

Paco was always a lap ferret. Every evening when I got home from work, I would sit in my favorite chair to read while Paco stretched out in my lap like he'd always lived to do nothing else. When he'd get up and get ready to go to his own bed, I'd sing him to sleep. Our favorite was an old Neil Young tune - "I want to live with a Cinnamon Boy - I could be happy the rest of my life with my Cinnamon Boy..."

During the ice storm of 2007, Paco was one of the merry three that kept my mother and me company for the endless days without power. He was in his own version of heaven with her entire basement to run free in and hundreds of plastic sacks to scatter about the house before curling up to sleep in the last one in a warm corner.

I lost my cinnamon boy to leukemia on Mother's Day 2007. I've never experienced such pain. I've buried good friends, my grandparents, and my father. I'm not ashamed to tell you that I mourned longer and harder for Paco than I did for any of them. We had almost eight months together, and I've dedicated this Ferret Haven to his memory.

Frank

Frank is the first ferret I rescued. A beautiful dark sable boy, he is the strong, silent type. I was a nervous new fuzzy mama, but Frank calmed me down from the beginning. His strength is in his companionship, as proved during the ice storm of 2007, when we were without heat, water or power for 11 days. I bundled up Frank, Minnie and Paco and we went to stay with my mother, who had heat. Frank and company kept us entertained for hours with their escapades. Then Frank would curl up in my arms and sleep on my chest while I napped in the recliner. He helped me keep my sanity during a dark time.

Now an old man of six, Frank has escaped the health problems that plague most older ferrets. He sleeps approximately 23.75 hours a day, which is possibly why his life remains worry-free. Would that we all could live the simple path to happiness as my gentle Frank.

Welcome to Prixby's Ferret Haven!

Hello, I'm Prixby. This is a blog dedicated to the four-footed, fun-loving fuzzballs that rule my world. You'll meet quite the cast of characters, as any pet owner will attest - they all have their own unique personalities. I'll start with Rocky. Rocky is a dark-eyed white ferret, and like most dark-eyed whites, he is completely deaf. This doesn't slow him down in the least, as he is without a doubt the most energetic, ingenious and charming of the lot. Unlike most of the ferrets in the Ferret Haven that have been rescues, I got Rocky from a pet store. I just couldn't resist his style of wrestling that had him leaping up and "top roping" the unwitting companion with him in the store's case. I watched for five minutes and was humming the theme song from his namesake movie as we walked out of the store.

Since coming home with me four years ago, Rocky has won my heart again and again with his rambunctious rough-housing, his posing like a GQ cover model for attention, his constant challenges to the confines of his room, and his gentle eyeball licks when caught at last. He is teacher's pet and grandma's boy, always the center of attention. He gets along with all the other ferrets in the Haven and would win the title of Best Man on Campus with flair and ease.