Unexpected Visitor

Saturday we had a day of the unexpected. We had plans to get some projects done around the house. While the Gentleman & I were busy in the garage we hear C. yelling that a ferret had run in the house. We didn't believe her...until we found it in the entertainment room. A frustrating 30 minutes spent getting the thing cornered and it was caught. After its exciting adventure the little guy curled up and took a nap. I don't blame him - I wanted one too.

 I visited our various neighbors asking if any had lost a ferret. The responses were 'No', 'What's a Ferret?', or just laughing. The most amusing was the man who replied: "What is a ferret? Oh, well if no one claims it we have been looking for one. We will take it."
How can you not know what it is, then decide that you have been wanting one? We: posted signs, fed him chicken feed and grapes, watched him, talked with him. He: slept, hid in the cardboard tube, hissed, screeched, jumped to get out, and lunged to attack hands in the cage. After finding that ferrets are illegal to own as pets in CA we figured we wouldn't get a phone call. We also decided that since he wasn't partial to any human contact he probably had been loose (aka wild) for some time. We gave him back his freedom.

My Gentleman did some research and found that we didn't have a ferret it was a long tailed weasel. They are wild and do live in CA. They like to hang out near chickens to catch the rat population. We may see our little friend again.