Here is silly little Fruity at about six or seven weeks old. She was already running around the place like she owned it. She is about three months older than Pookie.

Here is Pookie on the day she was brought home from the pet store. She was about seven weeks old. She still loves her squeaky toy and comes when you squeeze it. Notice her silly white paws.

This is Fruity as an adult. She is the real bright one. She can figure out how to get into almost anything. You can also see she is wearing a bell on a collar. The bell helps keep you from stepping on them. It also helps tell neighbors, in case your ferret escapes, that your ferret is a pet, not a skinny rat.

Here we find young Fruity meeting Pookie for the first time. Fruity was sound asleep when Pookie woke her up. As you can see, Fruity is feeling a little silly. Nowadays, the ferrets usually prefer to sleep together in the cage, but separately throughout the house.

Here is Fruity acting up and showing her teeth. She got all excited after I was swatting at her with an old blanket. This is part of the "ferret war dance." Her full name is Fruitcake after the Jerky Boys. This image fully demonstrates her fruity nature. She does not have rabies.

Fruity and Pookie love their townhouse. It is a sort of modified cat house with smaller openings. It's kept in a corner of the New Ferret City kitchen. Ferrets like little rest stops around the home when going from one spot to the next. Things like cat houses and sofas give them a sense of security. Most members of the weasel family like tunnels and underground lairs. Pookie (bottom) especially enjoys sleeping in here. She's often found with her head hanging out just like this and yawning.

Here is Pookie looking very important and heroic after successfully defending the drawer from Fruity. They both enjoy sleeping in this pull-out drawer in which I have put a blanket. You can see Pookie is wearing her collar and bell. You may also notice her head is really white and she has lost most of her "mask." This is her full blown winter coat which is much lighter than her summer coat.

After rough housing with Pookie, stealing paper towels, and making sure all her stuff is in all the right places, Fruity likes to nod off for a few hours. Deep in dreamland, Fruity has visions of chasing ducks in the backyard and eating Cheerios.

Ferrets like to be outside. The amount of new smells and greenery livens them up considerably. Here you see Pookie exploring some bushes. And below Fruity is thinking about going after those ducks across the way again. Why, I don't know, she does not have a silly chance in the world of doing any harm to them. Both ferrets are four years old in these two images. Fruity is sporting a nice weasel mask.

While my ferrets are shy when outside and often run back in the house at the sound of a truck going by, unless you are experienced and prepared to run after them, you should have your ferrets on a leash. My particular ferrets are trained to return to the house when I squeeze the squeaky toy, provided they can hear it. Furthermore, I always have my eyes on them. It only takes a few moments for them to disappear for good. I am not the type who wants to find out if they can find their way back home.