We have been away in our caravan all over Christmas and New Year, and as usual, we took all our ferrets with us. We were a bit worried about Curly (Cute Bad Boy), as he is nearly 7 months into insulinoma and to be totally honest keeps giving us scares on a regular basis... We have been very worried about how Wurly will take the passing of Curly, as they are very very close, and always seek each other out when it comes to bed time. Friday night, they were all playing as normal, and as usual, Bad Bad boy, Wurly, went nuts for his raw meat and soup, yapping and scrapping at Aero over the last piece.
Anyway, yesterday morning we were going out for the day, so I went to get Curly out to give him his morning medicine, trying to do it, with out waking them all up and letting them out of the cage. It can be a bit of a Lucky dip, putting your hand into a sleep sack with 5 ferrets all curled up round each other, and I accidentally picked up the Bad Bad Boy, Wurly, instead of Curly. I woke him up from a real dead sleep, so was not to worried he was a bit lethargic, and quickly put him back in the cage, where he crawled back into the sleep sack, as I pulled his brother out instead.
When we came back, I noticed a Bad Boy was laying on his own, outside the sleep sack, and looked a bit scruffy, again, I thought it was Curly, so took him out to check him over, I then realised it was Wurly, and he was well on his way to the bridge. We tried to get him to eat and drink, but he turned everything down, and locked his mouth shut when we tried to force feed him. We realised that he was too far gone, and decided to just cuddle him, where he curled up on me, and just lay there. After about 20 mins, he gave a couple of big sighs, and left us. As you can imagine it has left us in shock, as we though he was fine, and full of life.
Curly and Wurly came to us via a Guy who contacted us through our website, and who was moving house, and could not keep them, or so he said... They had no hutch, and were in one of those White wire cat baskets, with no base, so just the wire to stand on. They were full in-season, stank the car out on the way home, and became known as "The Smells". They were identical to look at and absolute monsters from the start... over a few weeks, we had them implanted, and the hormones started to settle, but their manners left a lot to be desired, and while we were still trying to find them names, they became known as the "Bad Boys". We worked on them, and while they became handleable, we noticed one was more likely to give you a good nip, rather than a lick, so he became the "Bad Bad Boy", and the one that was slightly better, and would give the odd cuddle, became the "Cute Bad Boy", the problem was we struggled to tell them apart, so often got a nip rather than a cuddle.
Over time we found little differences, and they got their proper names of Curly and Wurly, Curly Cute, Wurly Bad, but were most often referred to as just the "Bad Boys".
Wurly did mellow over his life, but was never safe with exposed flesh, loving nothing more than a good bit of upper arm, thigh, neck, calve you name it. Ironically the only times we ever had proper cuddles, were the year we all had swine flu, and he felt very sorry for himself, but most often in the caravan, after a good play he would find Suz, and have a snuggle, but never at home. He was a fiend with Stones, and when doing stuff in the garden, he would be a real nuisance, bugging us until we would throw small bits of dirt, or tiny pebbles for him to chase... He would often find a specific stone that was worthy of being stashed, sometimes in the house, other times in the middle of the lawn. He never brought them back though, so we would have to go round the lawn picking up stones before we could mow it. He loved to walk on his lead, and we would kick stones for him to chase, or even throw them for him, where he liked the flat skimming stones best.
One of my best memories was when he was entered into a show, and I was running ferrets. If the class had one of my ferrets in , I had to make sure that one of the other runners took them and vis-a-versa, so no one could call cheating... It got to the end of Wurly's class, and there were 3 recalls which included him, so both of us Runners had to take the ferrets in... Basically all 3 had scored maximum marks, and it was a case of pulling them around, trying to find anything, just to mark them down for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place... The Judge kept taking one, looking at something, then passing it back, taking another, and doing the same, and I was waiting for Wurly to blow it by having a nip at the judge... Worst part, I could not say a word, and I am watching the now familiar look starting to appear in his eye. Somehow, he kept his cool, and actually got the first place... I was so amazed, and it goes without saying, proud of him.
When they arrived
Bad through and through!
A rest in the caravan
I Spy a Nose....
We have brought him home with us, and tomorrow his body will join the others that have passed before him buried in the back garden, while his soul has gone up the the bridge, to get it ready for his brother... Just a warning, the bridge will never be the same again...
