Another warm (hot for England), sunny day. And since our garden faces south it's a bit of a sun-trap and usually the area by the house wall is a good four or five degrees Celsius hotter than the street outside. This is not good for ferrets.
In the wild, being nocturnal, they would spend the day in a cool, earth burrow. Snow (that's her name - probably because she's a light, white, creamy with very pale ginger in places, colour) doesn't have the option of an earthen burrow. Since I'm a worrier where animals are involved I was a little concerned about her in the heat. So I've been doing the freeze-a-bottle-of-water thing. You fill a plastic bottle - well not quite full, maybe three-quarters - freeze it overnight then wrap the bottle (now solid ice) in a tea-towel and place it in the cage. It thaws throughout the day but provides a nice cool surface for the ferret to lean against - or drape itself over. When I got home today she was draped right over the bottle.
I've also been soaking an old sheet in water, wringing it out slightly, and draping it over half of her cage. As the water evaporates during the day it cools that part of the cage. I've used that trick a time or two myself, to enable me to sleep restfully, in places where the temperatures have been too high for comfort. Such as Tashkent (51c), Dushanbe (48c and 85% humidity) and Cairo (40c but fairly dry).
These measures seemed to work and Snow has appeared to be quite comfy.
I'm going to miss her when my friend gets back.
See you next week. Goodnight and may your God/s go with you.
Ze
