Author Topic: Megan , the second of our 3 White Witches has left us.  (Read 5122 times)

Offline lazy-ferret

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Megan , the second of our 3 White Witches has left us.
« on: April 25, 2017, 10:44:38 PM »
We are having a bad month, we have lost another life changing ferret today, our little Megan.



On the 1st of August, 2012, things were a bit on the manic side, Roy from Harietsham Ferret rescue, called me to ask if I could pick up some ferrets from a house in Tonbridge Wells, as the owner was being evicted in the morning, and Roy was going to be in Hospital, so could not get there in time. Apparently, there was a Mum with some Kits, and maybe a couple more ferrets as well. I arranged to get them in the afternoon, but as regularly happens in this household, complications set in. Suz was rushed to hospital herself, that same afternoon, so I called the man, and explained what had happened, and arranged to get over to his house at 7:30am the following morning.

When I got there, I was shocked, I had picked up many ferrets over the years, but this was the first case of neglect I had ever gone to, and it took all my mind, not to say anything, just get the ferrets out of there as quickly as possible. The guy took me out the back of a house, that I was sure was a drugs den, into a small yard, with a windowless shed in the bottom corner. He opened the shed door, and I was almost knocked out by the smell, and once my eyes had adjusted to the light, I saw 2 small indoor Guinea Pig cages, the sort with plastic tray at the bottom, and wire tops, and a wooden hutch. In the Hutch was a large hob, pacing up and down, and in the small cages were small very skinny albino Jills,


 
When I looked, one of the jills had several tiny pink sausages in a wood shaving nest as well, now I was expecting some kits, but these were so tiny I had never even seen pictures of them this small. The guy tells me about the ferrets, and I struggle to take it all in, as I was shocked by what I was seeing, and while telling me this, he admits he ran out of food 3 days ago, the same day the kits were born… they were only 3 days old!!!



The Jill was feeding 6 kits, and had not been fed for 3 days!!!



I got them all out to my car, and luckily it was a nice warm day, as I had to drive with all the windows and sunroof open, as the smell made my eyes water. Even now, 5 years on, I still find bits of wood shaving when I clean the car out. When I got them home, I cleared the shed attached to the ferret court, and put the two Jills out there, as it is a nice quiet place, and we only need to go in there once in a blue moon to get stuff from the ferret freezer.

One Jill was called Snowy, and she was a lot older, and had her own amazing story, which I have already told when she passed on 3 years ago. The Hob, who was the father of the kits, turned into an amazing ferret, and Suz immediately snagged him to stay here, and again, his story was told when he died in October last year.

Megan presented us with a huge problem, firstly, Suz and I had never looked after kits before, as we have always had rescues that are 12 to 16 weeks and older, and secondly, moving or upsetting a mother with such young kits meant there was a huge risk she would kill them. After speaking to Roy, it was decided that they would stay here for a while, so we could give her some stability, and hopefully, she would not do anything bad with the kits. We set to work trying to get some good food into them, and to get Megan to put some weight on, as she was dangerously thin. As it turned out, Megan was the perfect mum, and welcomed any help we could offer with open arms. To start with, I removed the maggot infested wood shavings from around the nest, and replaced it with clean shavings, which Megan would then put into the nest, pushing more dirty shavings to the outside so I could again change them. This helped, but the cage still stank to high heaven, and we were having a huge problem trying to keep the flies at bay.





We have a small cage, we call our “Hospital cage”, which has a nice enclosed sleeping area at one end, plus litter tray and hammocks., so one day I set the cage up, filing the sleeping area with small cut up squares of fleece, put it out in the run, and then put Megan’s dirty cage out in the run next to it. After a bit of inspection, Megan decided this was a lot better, and set to work moving the 6 kits over to the nice clean cage. Once she was happy, I put the cage back in the enclosed section of the run, and from there on, her and her 6 kits were the perfect house guests, even using the litter tray as soon as they could get out and about. We soon discovered that Snowy wanted to be a surrogate mum, and Megan was more than happy to let her, so when Megan wanted to get out and explore things, Snowy would babysit the monsters. In fact, she became the “Fun Aunty” to all the kits, and got them into all sorts of trouble teaching them bad things.







You can guess, none of them ever made it to the rescue in the end, as we were enjoying the experience too much, and we just could not let them go. As the kits grew up, 3 were re-homed, but we ended up keeping 2 hobs and a little Jill kit called Flyte. Flyte, Snowy, and Megan became the best of friends, who because of all the trouble they got up too, were collectively known as the 3 White Witches.



Megan was always “Mumsie”, and a bit laid back, but loved to cuddle us, and was a real “Treat” fiend. She was a true “Lazy Ferret”, especially as she got older, often just getting up from one bed, to go and sleep in another, but her hearing was finally attuned, to anything that sounded like it might be a treat, and she would be at your feet as soon as you put the kettle on in the kitchen, begging for something to eat.



Unfortunately, I think her poor start in life, and especially the malnourishment when she had the kits took its toll on her health, and over the last 6 months, her health had gone up and down, giving us a few scares, but every time she would recover, and have a nice spell of enjoying life, treats and cuddles before going down hill again.

:adore: :angel1: Sweet Dreams :angel1: :adore:

Thank you, Megs, you taught us a lot, thankfully being a very willing teacher, and have left us with Flyte and Reject, who are a credit and great credit to you and Toby. You are now at the Rainbow Bridge, reunited with Snowy, Toby, the father of the kits, and sadly for us, 2 of your kits, Picnic and Trevor, who both died young with heart defects. Have a ball up there.


Megan trying to put one of her kits back to bed, even though he is so much bigger than her.
I ferret proofed my house... but they still keep getting in

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Re: Megan , the second of our 3 White Witches has left us.
« Reply #1 on: April 26, 2017, 09:22:40 AM »
 :fuzzyhug: So sorry xxx at least she had a great life with you guys and finally had love, freedom and happiness xx

Offline girly-lazy-ferret

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Re: Megan , the second of our 3 White Witches has left us.
« Reply #2 on: April 26, 2017, 08:49:37 PM »
Megs took everything we were told and worried about for mums with new kits and threw it out of the window.  :adore:

I miss you gal. After switching the kettle on each morning I would go through and you would be demanding your convalesance food.

I know you appreciated a good life here, and I still feel you around.