Slinky is the celebrity of the family, sort of. He shocked and thrilled me to death when he took Best Alter in Show at Ferret Expo 1997, a championship ferret show sponsored by the American Ferret Association. Slinky was a Rescue ferret, awaiting a good home to call his own (all the time he was weaseling his way into my heart!) My dearest friend came to visit and said that she wanted to adopt him. I told her that she could have him, but only after I showed him at Ferret Expo, because he was already entered. I then told her that she could have him "unless he placed first at the show." I laughed, said that would never happen. You see, at the time of the show, Slinky was nearly five years old, and to be honest, when he came to the Rescue, he wasn't pretty. He was covered in doo-doo, his fur was dirty, and he wasn't a very happy fur-kid. I took him to the vet, who joked that "he should have been named Stinky!" As the day came closer for the show, I became a little depressed knowing that Slinky would soon no longer be mine. He'd been in the shelter since the previous summer, and I was growing far more attached to him than I should be to a Rescue ferret. At the Show, when Slinky's number was called back for the top ten ferret awarding, I remember holding him close and whispering that I was so happy for him that he'd place, but if only a miracle would happen and he'd win first place then he'd be mine to keep! In the first ring, Slinky was called for eighth place, and my heart dropped. It was an excellent placing, but it still didn't make him mine. Then, to my surprise, he was called back for the second ring's top ten! As the judge called down, tenth, ninth, eighth, I kept hoping for, but not expecting, a first. The judge got down to the top three, and asked for us to come forward. I was thinking, "how close it would be to place third or second, but not first!" All I could think was that he could be mine. The judge called third place...not Slinky. Second place... NOT SLINKY!! I started to cry, and the onlookers must have thought me crazy because I kept repeating, "He's mine! He's mine!" Looking back, I guess it didn't make much sense. It meant the world to me, though! Then, when Slinky took Best Alter in Show, I started crying all over again, this time over feelings of such pride that this sweet, darling, beautiful almost-five-year-old (former!) Rescue ferret beat out 182 other alters. I didn't have much to do with it, I just gave him love and a good grooming. Slinky did the rest, and he's got the ribbons and trophy to prove it. Thanks, Slinky, for making your new Mommy very, very proud. Incidentally, for those of you thinking it was horrible to approve an adoption of a ferret then rescind it (to a good friend, even!) I should mention that she completely understood and was very happy for the new addition to my fur-family.

Slinky keeps me rolling in laughter. He's such a cutie, both in appearance, and in the things he does. A good example is in how he learned a trick I taught him, then decided to add his own twist to it. Slinky adores raisins, so I decided that he had to "earn" his treat. I wanted to teach him the easiest trick in the ferret world, to stand up on his hind legs and beg for his raisin. It was very simple to teach him; the smell of the raisin was all of the encouragement he needed. So for several weeks, when it was time for his daily raisins, I held them above his head and he'd stand for each one. Then one day I was walking in the ferret room while he was out, and out of the blue, he walked up to me and stood on his hind legs! I wasn't even near the raisins! I laughed, thinking this just so adorable, and of course rewarded his cleverness with a raisin. From that day on, he was the boss. Whenever he's out and I walk around him, he follows me every step of the way, and as soon as I stop he instantly stands up! He's just so smart!

To read another quite humorous story about Slinky, read Patches' story on the Over the Rainbow Bridge page.

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