In the Spring of 1998, I got it into my head that I needed to adopt a new critter (at the time I already had a dog named Rowan, a cockatiel named Pepsi, and a black cat named Ashe)  So I started looking around at various shelters, and at one, I find this teeny little Ferret. Now, I had grown up being told that Ferrets are mean, dirty little creatures, but I had the hardest time believing that of this little girl.  So I adopted her, and in a matter of hours she named herself Little Shit, or LS.  She got into EVERYTHING, she stole anything that wasn't nailed down, from the remote, to pens, to computer disks, and she'd bite my toes, and she'd try to tackle  Rowan, who was ever the patient Mother, and would let her get away with anything, but most of all she made me smile & laugh.  It didn't take long for her to realize, that I didn't like to be bit hard, so she'd just 'mouth' me, or kiss me.  and she learned really quick to use the litter pans in her cage.  Her favorite toy was a big eraser and she'd spend hours throwing it around, and jumping on it.  In a few weeks, after she got used to her new home,  she took to riding on my shoulder, and she'd go everywhere with me, to the store, over to mom's, where ever, as long as she could see what was going on. She wiped out any misconceptions my parents had that Ferrets were mean and nasty.  (In fact they now belong to 6 furries: Sarah, Maxwell, Tiffany, Winston, Fozzy, and Sugar)

     Unfortunately, in fall of 2003 she started to showing her age.  as I understand it, 7 is old for a ferret though some can live as long as 11 or so.  The Vet said it was just age, and the best I could do was to keep her warm and safe and dry.  She had her good days where she'd run and play with the other ferrets, and her bad days, where she'd curl up on my lap, or in the hammock and sleep during play time.  

In a harsh blow, the Fates decided to lay claim to LS... not three days after Merlin died unexplainably, LS showed signs of weakness.  Since she had bad days before, I decided to keep her comfortable, and content until she sprang back, like she always had before. I know age is par for the course, but it doesn't make it any easier when I can't do anything to bring back the sparkle to her bright eyes, and her thirst for mischief.  Unfortunately, there was no springing back.  Not a full week after we said good-bye to our beloved Merlin, we had to say good bye to the oldest of our ferrets.  LS had dispelled so many horrible rumors that abound about Ferrets.  She was loved in our neighborhood, and kids would often knock on our door and ask if I would bring her outside so they could pet her.  I know that, through her loving nature, she managed to change a great many people's opinions of ferrets, and not just my family, but complete strangers as well.  On April 11, 2004, I said good bye to LS, the First Ferret, the one who touched my life so deeply...I hope she knows I'm truly grateful for her trust, and companionship

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