Speaking of small furry mammals...

[rivka]

I was out in our courtyard when I heard a rustling under the back steps, and saw a hint of movement. My first thought, of course, was "rat." But then I caught a glimpse of a profile - just a flash - that didn't look ratlike.

Baby raccoon? That was what it looked like, but it didn't seem likely for downtown Baltimore. I was mystified. And nervous, because a raccoon out in the middle of the day is probably sick, and a sick raccoon in Maryland is likely to have rabies.

We've fenced off the area next to the house in a very rudimentary way - just a strip of garden fencing secured to a post at either end. It's meant to keep Alex out of the area that holds our garbage cans, the grill, the various non-baby-friendly items stored under the back steps, and our downstairs neighbors' window well. Whatever the animal was, it was moving back and forth behind the fence. I caught some flashes of brown fur

A little face popped up from the drainspout and looked at me for a long minute. Long enough to make it clear that this was an animal used to being around humans. Soon enough, a long sinuous body followed the little face. Ferret! Yeah, definitely a ferret. He moved up until he was right under our lowest back step and peered at me.

Michael came through with some supplies. "Michael?" I said conversationally. "There's a ferret in our yard."

"A ferret?" He came out to look. "So there is. Huh."

Now Alex had spotted the thing, and was watching it intently. The ferret chose this moment to come right out into the open yard and start exploring. Alex was thrilled. I was rather less thrilled.

"It's obviously someone's pet," I said. It poked around, inspecting the plants and bricks and sandbox in a leisurely fashion. I tried to think of how we could find the owners quickly. In a neighborhood full of small apartment buildings, it didn't seem very likely. And we certainly didn't have any place to keep him - not with a toddler around.

So, reluctantly, I called Animal Control. I stressed to the dispatcher that we were definitely dealing with a pet, not a feral animal - his sleek healthy fatness and total lack of fear made that clear. My plan was to post signs around the neighborhood afterward, so that the owner would know where to go to pick the poor little guy up.

I went back into the yard with a laundry basket, and tipped it over Mr. Ferret. But he quickly managed to slither underneath. Before I could trap him again, he had ducked under the high wooden fence into the next yard.

A few minutes later, I heard a voice from beyond the fence. "I don't know. I'm going to look out here again."

"Excuse me," I called out. "Did you lose a ferret?"

"Yes! Yes! Oh, thank God."

Not so fast. I explained that we had seen him, but that he had crossed over into their courtyard. The ferret owner wandered up and down making encouraging chirping noises. Obviously he wasn't in their yard anymore.

Suddenly, a small furry body tore by me at top speed and vanished under the fence. This time I got a clear look at a naked tail. I yelped.

"Did you find him? Is he over there?"

"No, no, that was a rat." And then I stopped to think. "Why would a rat be running around here in the daytime anyway? ...Because it's being chased by a ferret?" I followed the path the rat had taken. "He must be in the yard behind me."

The ferret owner climbed onto the top of the fence and made his precarious way over into the yard behind us. Once he was on the far side, he was able to lift the latch and walk into our yard, holding the ferret - who was looking very innocent indeed - close to his chest.

Thus Oscar (the ferret) and James (the neighbor) were happily reunited, and we all got a chance to scritch his ears as they left.

Comments

[elynne.livejournal.com]

I'm very glad the story had a happy ending. :) And I feel a bit sorry (though not very) for the rat, who probably wasn't expecting anything like that in a nice sedate city environment! Heheh.

[mactavish.livejournal.com]

YAY! And now you know James.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

Yay for reunions!

If, for some reason, you find yourself in a position of needing to capture a domestic ferret, they tend to have a pretty strong tropism for: sliced banana, raisins, rubber erasers, and dirty socks. Any of the above should ought to be useful in attracting the fellow close enough to grab by the scruff. A ferret held by the scruff of it's neck is effectively mobilized -- ferret owners sometimes refer to this feature as the 'off-button'.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

A ferret held by the scruff of it's neck is effectively mobilized -- ferret owners sometimes refer to this feature as the 'off-button'.

Well, okay, but then what would I do next?

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

Hum. Good point. In the absence of a handy ferret cage, I reckon dropping the critter in the bathtub would do -- contrary to cinematic fantasy, ferrets are not much on leaping -- and set down a bowl of water and some cat kibble if you have any handy. (Absent cat kibble, tuna would do.) Then call your local animal control authorities.

[elusis.livejournal.com]

Tickle its widdle tummy, of course!

[therealjae.livejournal.com]

Wow. I'm glad you were there--I can't even imagine how hard it would have been to catch a ferret otherwise!

-J

[rivka.livejournal.com]

I'm glad he came out in broad daylight, and not, say, when I was out cooking on the grill at twilight. Because at least I figured out he was a pet ferret pretty quickly.

[tnh.livejournal.com]

Great story. Happy ending.

(BTW: surely a ferret grabbed by the scruff of its neck is immobilized?)

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

Yes, that thing. Wonder where my im went.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

Probably the same place my gratuitous apostrophe came from, come to think...

[raincitygirl.livejournal.com]

Yay for Oscar! Did Alex get a chance to scritch him? People have told me that ferrets make good pets, but I've never managed to get past the rodent-ish exterior. He sounds like a pretty resourceful ferret, though. I mean, not only did he manage to escape his house and go on a field trip, he also succumbed to his hunterly instincts and did his duty chasing a rat. For a pet that's probably never even seen a rat before, that's pretty impressive.

[mactavish.livejournal.com]

Just remember that ferrets are related to wolverines, and all will be well. :)

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

Yabbut, ferrets have been domesticated for almost as long as cats. Otters and minks are much likelier to behave like their wolverine cousins than a domestic ferret. The main thing a ferret has in common with wolverines and badgers is perfect, sanguine fearlessness.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

Alex did get a chance to scritch him, although she was a little hesitant about getting up close and personal with him.

He did seem like a real sweetheart - much less feral-acting than the ferret who lived in my college dorm, freshman year.

[raincitygirl.livejournal.com]

Yeah, toddlers usually are a little hesitant to get up close with an animal. Mind you, it's better than the alternative, which is grabby toddlers not understanding how to play gently with animals and getting themselves scratched or bitten. I did know a golden retriever once who was incredibly tolerant of small children pulling his tail, riding him like a pony, etc, but most animals object to such treatment.

BTW, a propos of nothing (although maybe there's a link, because I was just thinking about dogs, so maybe that brought the idea of housebreaking to mind), how is Alex doing on the diaper front? Someone I know said recently that babies start to make the connection between:
a) full feeling in my bladder
b) subsequent wet diaper
at around a year old, but the only people I know who have young toddlers still seem to have diapers.

[huladavid.livejournal.com]

This evening I was walking over to friend's and noticed a 1 year old girl walking about 10 feet behind her mother, and right behind a robin. She seemed hesitant, and I couldn't figure out why until I realized I'd be reluctent to approach a wild animal that came up to about my knee...

[huladavid.livejournal.com]

Okay, this is off topic, but where'd you get that userpic??

[raincitygirl.livejournal.com]

It's pretty classic, huh? It was made by paddies, who has a whole bunch of BSG icons (and other fandoms, actually) at her journal, some of them animated. Good place to look for great icons. And as far as I know, they're all shareable, provided you don't hotlink, and drop her a line saying what you're taking. I just put the icon maker's name in the icon's keywords when I upload it to LJ, because otherwise I'd forget where they came from.

[jonquil.livejournal.com]

I am pleased to learn that you are Respectful of Ferrets as well.

[oursin.livejournal.com]

But did anyone put the ferret down their trousers? (Ferret-legging)

[kalmn.livejournal.com]

i appreciate ferrets in theory. but not so much in person. but it's good that oscar and james were reunited.

[bunyip.livejournal.com]

Cute!!

[pickledginger.livejournal.com]

:-)

Well deduced!

[dafna]

What a great story. So much better than my animal in the backyard story of the week, which is that Toby (my dog) seems to have killed his second possum. (Or, possibly, a second possum has died since he came to live here and he's just the one dragging it into the middle of the lawn.) But on the other hand, the dog did get rid of my moles and chased the rat out of the potting shed.

I was actually once paid to be a ferret wrangler, a very very long time ago, when I worked at the local science center. I basically had to hold it up and talk about how it lived and ate, etc. and then let people pet it while keeping it from biting anyone. As my other demo job involved a 10-foot boa constrictor wrapped around me while I talked about how it could kill me, I much preferred the ferrets. They are very cute -- but even the nice ones do sometimes bite so the scruff of the neck advice is good. (This actually works on dogs, too -- at least in dogs, it works because that's how mother dogs pick up their puppies.)