There may be an endangered ferret...

[Kilroy]

Living Under Our Shed.

My sister's been doing a lot of gardening recently, and this being Arizona in May she prefers to do so when it's not unbearably hot, so she was out at daybreak and caught sight of a (according to her) "very large varmint" trucking across the yard towards the holes near our shed. (Being from Ohio, I'd always assumed the holes were from a gopher/groundhog/whatever type of animal.)

She rushed upstairs and roused me from sleep (before it was wakey-wakey time mind you) babbling about this phantom creature, which she described as long, slender, darkly colored, with a black bushy tail. I mumbled and grumbled and roused myself from sleep, cracked my knuckles, and unleashed Google-Fu.

From her description (which she swears is accurate) the two most likely candidates were a weasel (OK) and a Black-Footed Ferret (I was always under the assumption that ferrets were weasels that lived in pet stores, but whatever). Turns out the Black-Footed FerWeasel was almost extinct, but due to conservation and re-introduction programs has been let loose again in half a dozen states or so (including AZ).

So after learning that she may be hosting an almost-extinct poor little Black-Footed FerWeasel my sister decided to contact the Arizona Department of Game and Fish for advice on what to do. (I had several ideas, similar to the method that I've implemented to deal with our Pigeon Problem (rocking it knapp-style...Pigeon, meet pellet gun), but they were "shot" down.)



Here's where things get fun.

The Arizona Department of Game and Fish is sending an "Investigator" to our home, smack dab in the middle of one of the 5 largest Metro Areas in the U.S., to search for an endangered Black-Footed FerWeasel that may or may not exist...

Under Our Shed.



I can't wait. I dunno what I wanna see worse...some egghead sticking his head in a hole and finding nothing, or said egghead sticking said head into said hole and being attacked by an endangered Black-Footed FerWeasel.

Never Mind. I know which one I wanna see.

[mrblitz]

That is pretty cool. I hope it really is the endangered species, that would be something really noteworthy to brag about.

[knapplc]

I've heard those investigators are kinda crazy:

[joelamosobadiah]

Just be careful that they don't declare your backyard some sort of sanctuary for said near-extinct animal and ban human activity.

[Metroid]

Just be careful that they don't declare your backyard some sort of sanctuary for said near-extinct animal and ban human activity.

Yup no more backyard nudie sunbathing for Kilroy.

[Gibbs Baby!!!]

Just be careful that they don't declare your backyard some sort of sanctuary for said near-extinct animal and ban human activity.

Yup no more backyard nudie sunbathing for Kilroy.

And this is a bad thing?

[joelamosobadiah]

Just be careful that they don't declare your backyard some sort of sanctuary for said near-extinct animal and ban human activity.

Yup no more backyard nudie sunbathing for Kilroy.

And this is a bad thing?

For him.....


.... not for us.....

unless we are talking about Jimboozie.

[VaderFin]

[maddog60]

See if you can tame the little guy. Ferrets are a ton of work to take care of, by they're basically motorized slinkies with fur. They're one of the coolest and most enjoyable pets to own.

Of course if this thing's endangered, that's just wishful thinking.

[houstonherdfan]

Just be careful that they don't declare your backyard some sort of sanctuary for said near-extinct animal and ban human activity.

Man don't think he is kidding. If they find one there and deem that human activity will disturb the ecological balance for that ferrett, the might just do this. I am not kidding. This happened to a portion of a friend of mines parents farm back in the early 80's. I fotgot which bird it was but there was 5 acres of their land that they were not allowed to set foot on during certain times of the year.