Re: Ferrets

During the last few days, I've been considering getting a pet.  My landlord is pretty lax with rules, and while I have a "no pet" clause in my lease, at least a quarter of my tenants have an animal of some sort, and I'm pretty sure he'll let me bend the rules and bring in an animal of some sort.

So I've been weighing options.  If I do it, do I want a dog?  Or a cat?  Or maybe something a bit more exotic? 

A dog is my first option, because dogs are awesome.  But then, they're also a lot of work, and while I have a lot of free time now, I won't be rolling free time a year or two from now, and so getting a dog might not be the smartest idea in the world.

As for getting a cat, well... I'm not a cat person.  Especially after I heard about a disease called Feline AIDS.  I'm pretty sure a cat that vaguely resembles Tom Hanks from that movie, Philadelphia, is not something I want in my house. 

And then I saw a ferret.  They're pretty much the coolest animals ever.  They sleep twenty hours a day.  They're insanely curious.  They're affectionate.  And they're amused by paper bags. 

Granted, there are some bad sides.  Ferret owners refer to themselves as "Ferret Fanciers", which sounds dirtier than is really necessary.  Plus, the animals always look just a little suspicious.  I mean, can you ever really trust an animal that looks like this:

And there are other reasons why getting a ferret might be a bad idea.  They stink.  They get into trouble.  They poop a lot.  And when female ferrets go into heat, they stay in heat until they're pregnant - and could die if they remain in heat too long.  So, really, you could compare a ferret to pretty much any ethnic stereotype.

But still, I'm intrigued.  And I just want to say, right now, for the record... that if I do break and get myself a ferret, I hereby promise that I will *not* name it something stupid like "Ferret Fawcett" or "Ferret Bueller". 

Nope.  I'm gonna name him "Marcus".