By KATHLEEN D. BAILEY
Special to the Union Leader
Monday, Jun. 23, 2008
Londonderry – Sue Kern of Brentwood
can't say enough about her stroller for small animals.
"It's the greatest thing in the world," she said, admiring one at
Saturday's Ferret Festival in Londonderry. "It really brought Frosty
around. Now he lies at the door, waiting to go out."
Ferret fanciers from as far north as Berlin and as close as Manchester
converged at the Lions Hall for the 13th annual Ferret Festival on
Saturday. They browsed at vendor stands, put their animals through
paces in several competitions, admired each others' pets, and looked
over adoptable ferrets. It's the least they can do, they say, for a
misunderstood animal that brings them joy.
Kern's Frosty is a rescue ferret, one of the many she takes in and
rehabilitates at her 4 Little Paws shelter. He needed abdominal surgery,
was in intensive care for 24 hours, and in recovery for six months.
But he was listless and depressed until Kern found out he liked riding
in a stroller.
Alice West of Haverhill, Mass., pushed her seven ferrets in a stroller.
Some are rescues, some gifts from friends, some bought at pet stores.
"I like them, they bring me joy," she said, leaning over to murmur
to her ferrets. Each one wore a tiny halter so they could be attached
to a leash.
Sara Whiting of Manchester watched several ferrets play or nap in
a fenced-off area. They have a special toy -- a pink stuffed octopus
with openings at the end of each long arm.
"They love to tunnel," she said, watching one poke its head out of
the cloth arm. "They're like hyperactive kittens."
Ferret facts and falsehoods
1. Ferrets are not rodents, according to Sue Kern. "They are mustalids,
a relation of skunks and otters."
2. They do have an odor, so prospective owners should be prepared. "They
have a musky odor, in spite of being de-scented," according to
Kern. "The more you wash them, the worse they smell. When they
scratch themselves, more oil is released, and they smell more." It's
not a bad odor, but owners should expect it. At the Ferret Festival
Saturday, she gave out coupons for cans of Oust.
3. They aren't dangerous, at least no more so than puppies, kittens
or children.
"Kids bite, cats bite," Kern pointed out. "All little things chew
on stuff. But they're more social if they haven't been hurt or
abused."
4. They are intelligent.
At first she didn't care for ferrets, Kern admitted. She only allowed
them in her house because her son owned them.
"Then I saw Roscoe pull down our Christmas tree," she said with a
smile. "It was hysterical!"
She evolved first into an owner, then a rescuer, and finally an advocate.
She recently combined her operation with Kym Philibotte of Manchester,
president of the New Hampshire Ferret Owners Connection.
Ferrets are a financial risk, Kern said. It costs $200 a year to license
a shelter, and medical care could go as high as $3,600 per ferret.
But they're worth it, according to Kern. "No matter how bad a day
you're having, they make it good," she said.
Ferrets competed Saturday for recognition in several events, including
knocking over a flower pot filled with rice and being the first to
tunnel through industrial tubing.
Dylan Montoya, 12, of Weare, was the youngest "handler" and beamed
when his ferret, Sly, won third place in the flower pot challenge.
Vendors hawked food dishes, ferret picture frames, tiles, magnets
and toys. Many items carried the word "Dook," a special byword for
ferrets and their owners.
"It's the international word for what ferrets say," said Stephanie
Mudgett of Freedom. "It's the sound they make, kind of like a chicken
clucking. Ferret owners see that word, and they know."
A book on another vendor's table bore the title, "The Joy of Dooking."
Mudgett is closing the ferret shelter she ran in Berlin. But she'll
keep her own ferrets as pets.
"I like their philosophy of life," she said. "You eat when you're
hungry, sleep when you're tired, explore everything like it's brand
new, dance when you're happy, and never hold a grudge."
For more information or to adopt a ferret, call Kern at 778-0172.
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