Gilligan was our very first ferret, along with his mate Chainsaw. He came to us five years ago, from a young couple who did not have time for them. It turned out that the Husband did not like either of them, and when he went by the cage, would open it and hit both of them. Gilligan took it in stride, and sank into a deep depression. Chainsaw became violent and bit everybody and everything that got near her. It took a while, but they both overcame this background, and were the apple of my eye, until about 18 months ago, Chainsaw suddenly became ill. It turned out she had a dormant case of Heartworms that had resisted the monthly preventive, and had not shown up when she was tested. It was too late to do anything other than humanely euthanize her to minimize her suffering.
Gilligan and I were beside ourselves. He mourned her by stopping eating and curling into a ball and resisting all efforts to get him to do anything at all. A few days later, we got in a female that looked a lot like Chainsaw, and her mate. Gilligan took one look at her, and recovered. He began grooming her, licking her, bringing her treats, licking her ears, and holding her close. He did not seem to care one way or the other about her boyfriend, but I could not separate the pair, so Gilligan got his first two pets, Snuggles, and Kong (see them later in our pictures). A week later brought us in another female, this one a black sable like Gilligan, and he was beside himself with joy! He had another new friend, and thus he adopted his third ferret, Sweetiebug. Gilligan is now 8 years old, and his age and early abuse are starting to show. He is spending less and less time playing, but he is still my favorite, and gets plenty of love, and loves his pet ferrets. He has been through a lot, but is still the sweetest most beautiful ferret in the world! His favorite thing in the whole world (besides me and his little furry friends) is the banana/raisin flavored Yogies. Gilligan likes to take advantage of his age, and can easily pretend not to hear me call him, rattle his cage or make any other noise, until I shake a plastic container of Yogies, at which time he will come running from miles away, and moves with lightning speed, all out of a dead sleep! He loves soft beds, and having his ears scratched and sleeping on my chest covered with a fleece blankie. |
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GILLIGAN has a Santa. |