My poor mom.
My brother just called her and said "wouldn't you like a furry baby named 'Al'?". It turns out Al was not another rat (her first suspicion) but a 5 month old ferret with muffin feet who bounces around and loves to play. One of his dumb college friends purchased Al and only afterwards found out he is not allowed to have Al in the apartment and will be evicted if he does not get rid of him. My brother's landlord doesn't allow ferrets either (though for some reason they are allowed to have rats).
My mom said my brother knows just how to tempt her but it is really bad timing for a ferret. She doesn't have time to devote to a new pet, and Virgil (the dog) is jealous of new animals and fearful or guilt-ridden (I guess because of his instincs) around small non-canines, and he is older now so it isn't really fair to him to bring in any more animals that make him feel that way.
SO my brother and her are concerned about what to do about this ferret. My brother doesn't want his friend to bring the ferret to the local humain society because, it being a college town, it is overridden with animals and he is worried the animal will be euthanized or fall into the hands of another dumb kid. My mom suggested finding a local ferret society but he is worried about it because of bad experiences I have told them about in our bird society (animal horders). I don't know whether or not his fears are warrented but I understand them (and am impressed. He usually takes on a very who-cares tough attitude when I bring up issues like this in the abstract, but now suddenly he has turned into a mush pile for this animal :) ).
Any suggestions?
My mom is calling a local exotic animals vet (the one who was so wonderful to Lila and Sugar) to see if they have suggestions or know of a good home too.
Marisa2