And another one bites the dust
I talked to my sister and mom earlier, they let me know that mymy mom's ferret Virgilio just died.
I remember getting Virgilio many years ago (2001? 2?). He was fully grown, the pet shop had sort of given up trying to sell him and were instead keeping him as a pet; we'd seen him every time we'd been there shopping for dog and cat food.
I'd always wanted a ferret, especially after reading Sluggy Freelance, of which I was a big fan at the time.
I talked my mom and sister into trying to buy Virgilo from the guy at the pet store, and we did. He sold it to us complete with the cage he'd been using for him (and other ferrets when he used to have more for sale), which explains why his cage used to say "Please do not disturb the ferrets". To this day the sign is still on the cage, though the cage is no longer in use.
I kept him in my room for years, my bed was a loft bed and had shelves on one end, so I made room for him there and his cage fit pretty well all things considered. I'd clean his cage once a week or so, which means my room was smelly most of the time, but I didn't care.
I don't even remember how it happened, but years later my mom took him in; she wanted him to have a bigger cage, which wouldn't fir under my bed, and she took him to her room instead. (unlike me, she cleans her ferrets every other day or so, so it doesn't really smell at all).
At that point Virgilio really became hers more than mine; she became fascinated with him, and ferrets in general. She bought him toys and stuff, she made cute signs to tell people to remember to have the door closed at all times when they went into the living room and Virgilio was free. She became involved in the Latin American online ferret community... she became really involved in it, eventually helping organize the ferret races and later ferret olympics, and becoming a very dedicated admin. She helped rescue many ferrets by finding them new homes (including our own home for Timoteo and Minerva, her 2nd and 3rd ferrets).
She got them a huge cage, and she takes it out every day so they can be outside for a while (they couldn't possibly be free outside, with the number of animals we have, and with the way the space under the house is arranged, where they could end up lost and in other houses).
Even with the 2 other ferrets, Virgilio was always her clear favorite. He was always the sweetest; he wouldn't bite even if he was scared, hurt or startled; not even by accident. When they were roaming free in her room the other 2 would go crazy and hide everywhere, while Virgilio would go keep her company. With Toby they were the light of her life, and they're both gone now.
When Toby died someone pointed out that with so many animals there's always going to be one dying, and so that it didn't make sense to get so worked up over it. I said no, after Toby Virgilio would be the one, esp. for my mom. After Virgilio Rodrigo will be very tough for her, because Rodrigo is in ways taking Toby's place, luckily Rodrigo is very very young
I'm starting to ramble, I forgot if this had a point at all
