Hansel = Prozac on Legs

Today is all about Hansel. Timmy actually hates Hansel but that is just too bad. I find him QUITE amusing. Whenever I feel down I just get Hansel out of his cage to play and his silly antics crack me up every time!

I guess I should mention Hansel is my ferret..

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So of course like most of my animals he has a story. I use to go to an auction barn every weekend..taking in rabbits, chickens and pigeons..it is a compulsive problem I have that I can't control! I was late this particular day and the auction had ended. Just a few animals were left in the ring waiting to be taken away. So I walked through them just being nosey when I saw a hamster cage. In the hamster cage was a ferret. He was shoved in there with a little scrap of material, at least they gave him something, most at this place wouldn't.

I asked around about him because I just got a good gut feeling about him. I certainly knew nothing about ferrets. Turns out he hadn't sold and was going back where he came from. The farmer who owned him found out I was asking about him and offered to sell him to me. He wanted $100. I laughed and offered him $20..he tried to tell me the cage was worth $20 LOL..Long story short he took the $20 and now I owned a ferret. He had been bought the year before at the auction as a baby for his grandkids. The grandkids no longer liked him so he had to go. He had been living in a chicken barn all this time.

So as I was carrying my new prize to the car, everyone kept telling me how awful ferrets were and how they would bite. He seemed calm enough in the cage so I simply ignored them and took him home.

Well he did bite..BAD..right through my leather work gloves! He sure did love his towels though! I ended up keeping him in my barn with the rabbits until he got loose and tried to kill my chickens. Well I decided he better go to the vet and get his needles. So with gloves on he got a checkup and I decided to have him neutered. When he came home I put him in the house to recuperate and he never left! Unfortunately I had been told not to have him de-scented so he can rip quite a stink when he feels like it!.

One thing I should mention about this fuzzy bum is that he is nearly totally blind and deaf. No wonder he got so nippy. I thought about getting him a buddy but was worried he might get hurt if the playing became too rough. He loves to hang out with me, follows me around. He loves to do laundry and the dishwasher. You just have to make sure he is not in them when you close the door. He hoards dog food and loves hiding in drawers. He plays with our house cat and Buster Peebody my dog thinks he is great. We all just hang out!

He now lives in a triple decker cage in my room with a air purifier going all the time! He has numerous towels to dig in but he loves his sack the best. The sack hangs from the side of the cage and he can cuddle in it. He was very sick this winter but he pulled through and is now the picture of health. He is considered old for a ferret but shows no signs of slowing down. It is amazing what proper nutrition and some kindness can do.

Oh by the way, Hansel quit biting soon after I handled him for a while. I understood his problems and we worked around it. Now he never startles when I touch him, even in a deep sleep. He will still nibble on a toe now and again just to let you know he is there. Owning a ferret is like having a kitten that never grows up! He is a delight to own and his dances and twirls never cease to amaze me. I love this little guy.