Photo Album Page 2

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	*Ren* (right and middle) and Stimpy (left and bottom) were our daughter Tara’s kids, making them our grandweasels. Ren was an amazing blaze, who had two first-place trophies to his credit. He was a real ham, and loved to show. One day, when Tara was living in an apartment in Philadelphia, Ren escaped through an opening in the wall. Two days later, he dropped through the ceiling into the apartment below: a dermatologist’s waiting room! Stimpy was a real sweetheart, but he hated to show. He just seemed to get depressed when he went to the judges. One judge called us back, and said he was sick. We took him back, but there was nothing physically wrong with him: He just didn’t like being shown! That was the last time we ever took him to a show. Stimpy died January 14, 1999.


	One day Diane gets a call from LOS president Rose Smith. She has a ferret no one can get to eat. Would Diane be willing to take a shot? Anyone who knows Diane knows that’s one question you don’t have to ask twice. And she doesn’t like to lose. Zana (sideways for Roxanne — I had just finished watching Steve Martin’s homage to Cyrano) is a real lover weasel. Pick her up and she’ll lick you to death. I had recently told Diane that she had to stop taking in ferrets (we were well into double digits) (and you see how well I get listened to!), so Di had a great idea: She gave me Zana for my birthday present! Now how could I refuse?
	Porky (top, short for Pourquoi) was our first breeder ferret. He was hand-fed by Diane with his sister Bessie. And he had to be one of the most gentle whole male ferrets you’d ever have met. And smart: One day he wanted to get into a room that was off-limits, but he couldn’t get over the barrier. So he looked around, until he saw a carrier nearby. He pushed the carrier over to the barrier, and over he went. Upon hearing his story, veterinarian Anna Edling exclaimed “I want his babies!” The lower picture is Anna’s jill, Lilly, with her and Porky’s nine babies. Porky died suddenly on January 6, 1999 of juvenile lymphoma. A necropsy revealed a large tumor, the size of the vet’s hand.


	Diane often finds herself hand raising babies for other people, whose jills can’t raise their own kits. Val Williams’ jill, Chloe, dried up after only one week, so Di had to feed her seven kits every few hours, for several weeks. As you can see, they all did very well.
	These two were all that was left of a litter of pure New Zealanders, owned by Rose Smith. The mother was nearly dried up completely, and at five weeks old, the boy was just 4 ozs. The girl was just 3/4 of an ounce. Once again, Diane did her magic, and both did just great. After a feeding, the little girl would try to walk around, her big round belly dragging on the floor. She looked like a big bug. And that’s her name: Bug. Bug never really grew all the way; not that she didn’t try to eat her way to full size!. But her legs remained a bit stubby, and she isn’t quite as long as other females. That hasn’t stopped her though; she still gets into as much trouble as she possibly can. And the little legs just make her look cute — cute enough to take four trophies at last year’s Tri-State Ferret Fiasco, in Cincinnati, including best of show! Bug appears on the New Rainbow Bridge fine art print, right near the center, peering into a cat’s ear.