What Was It ?
4It was 430amish.I was sound asleep. Suddenly I jumped awake ! The cats went on full alert. Someone or something was rummaging through our garbage.
Cue some scary chords <<
I brushed off fear and thought it's probably just a possum or skunk.
Grabbed my Lenser T7 woot special and peered out the window. I didn't want to scare it before I saw it. But it was too dark to see anything. And I was holding back on my beam.Decided to turn the porch light on, knowing whoever it was would run.
Nope. Lights on, cans still clanking. They were going through my recycle bin !
Ok if I open the door for sure they will run, will I be able to catch them before they take off ?
I open the door as quiet as I could for an old squeaky hunk of wood and peered around the corner w/ my trusty light. Red eyes blinked back at me through the beam of my Lenser. It didn't run. It was not afraid.
In fact it didn't give me more than a passing glance.
Who or what was in my recycle bin last night ? Had I guessed correctly ? Did I have to call the police ? Did I need stitches ? What do YOU think ?
(picture will be posted later tonight)
- 19 comments, 96 replies
- Comment
Chupacabra???????????
@mfladd I knew a guy in Mexico who would swear he had seen one. "El Chupacabra existe! El Chupacabra viiiiiveeee"
@mfladd Chupathingy?
@dunda Puma.
@mfladd eventually we'll ferret it out
Your recycling became self aware.
How does one add a jpg?
@spotandginger just posts the link. The picture appears magically !
@spotandginger Just paste a link with .gif, .jpg, .png, or .gifv at the end, and the forums will automatically handle it for you.
@ceagee @dashcloud thanks!
@spotandginger - or upload to imgur.com, then copy the url and paste here.
@spotandginger What @KDemo said. Upload to a site like imgur.com, copy the link url and paste it here - no code necessary, just a link that ends with a file extension.
@Thumperchick @KDEMO thanks! Lets see if this works :-)
@spotandginger - Pick the url that says Direct Link.
@spotandginger I'm glad you asked that.
It was probably the keymaster.
Only @Barney remembers Costas' Red eyes at the Shoji Olympics?
Was someone looking for purple?
@editorkid The pre-Meh Barney's eyes glow red when someone mentions he ripped off the "This old man" nick-nack-paddywack song...
@editorkid I love purple.
@thismyusername That… is… terrifying.
@thismyusername we had to raise some baby possums for a while after their mom died. they were so cute and so full of hiss!
@Thumperchick My friend had a possum clinging to the bottom of her car once. The police came. And shot it. :( Maybe that was the mom to your babies.
@spotandginger. So close...you need the link that ends with .jpeg etc..
@spotandginger - Right, this one: Direct Link (email & IM)
@KDemo well shoot! Sorry, and thanks for the correction!
What'd you have in your recycling bin, wood?
@cinoclav I was about to look for an image of an Amish mob. Then I saw that you'd already done the work for me. Thanks.
@christinewas This was the pre-raid meeting apparently. And I'm shocked that no one else picked up on that for the first 4 hours.
@cinoclav Better than 420amish, no?
@cinoclav I was shocked when I saw the timestamps, too. Thank goodness you came along. Even if it was four hours later.
@jaremelz They only rummage (or uh, rumspringa-age) in the dumpsters at Taco Bell.
This?
I would suspect the racoons.
@curtise Yeah raccoons are pretty brazen
On a canoeing trip we had one swipe a giant black garbage bag full of food before we could hang it. The sucker just dragged it right off. One of the kids (adjudicated youth canoeing across the state of Florida) on the trip, before we could stop her, ran after the coon and yanked it back.
@Kidsandliz I'd be pretty brazen too for free waffles.
Nobody guessed correctly. But I enjoyed your responses immensely. Especially the Amish . Still laughing.
I will say that what was in recycle bin is now in my basement. Any other last minute guesses ?
Off to shrink the picture to post. BRB
@ceagee Ferret?
@mfladd Winner !!!
Send me your address ! Look for box w/ holes in it.
@ceagee Was it wild or someone's pet that got loose? Where the heck do you live that you have ferrets running around?
@christinerenee It's a pet. Very sweet. I was nervous, never handled one before, so I lured it into havaheart trap. Then friend from shelter came and brought supplies and we gave it a bath. Found out how sweet tempered it was.
Ads will be placed and info up at shelter. Hopefully someone is looking for it.
If not, I will be looking for a new home for it.
My cats are way too interested.
@ceagee @mfladd
@mfladd See picture
@ceagee
@ceagee NOOOOOOOO! 4 cats and 2 dogs, now my daughter wants a fish - no more please! Can you please send it to @jaremelz? I will even reimburse you for the shipping.
@mfladd no one forced you to play.
@mfladd Besides, it's your fault it was in my recycle bin to begin with.
@ceagee This is true. It is my fault and I apologize for that. But I am also giving you a Goat Stamp of Approval for taking this animal in. This makes me very happy as a die hard animal lover!
@mfladd Nice try at sucking up goat. Points for that. But it's still your fault and your prize.
@ceagee
@mfladd Go ahead. I'll train him to attack and one night you'll wake up to this at the end of your bed.
@ceagee That nose is so cute! Reminds me of Sid from Ice Age a little. But less awkward.
@jaremelz It is way too close to bedtime for me to see THAT.
@christinerenee Sorry! In my quest to mess with @mfladd, I forget that others may pay the price. Are clowns ok? (evil grin)
@jaremelz you are just mean!
@mfladd Maybe you should get your daughter a
@jaremelz Nah, too much work. She wants this.
@mfladd It's the RuPaul of fish.
@mfladd oh guppies. The rabbits of fish.
@ceagee nope. watch how it swims and then guess again.
@mfladd I think it's a beta. They are kinda boring. Tell your daughter she will have to settle for a ferret.
@ceagee You are right. Boring is what I want - and easy to take care of. I am not telling her about the ferret beacause she will want it.
@ceagee Aww, what a cute little guy. No, not @mfladd--the ferret. Hope you find a home for him.
@Barney
@mfladd We had fish. They are way too much work. And goldfish need 10 gallons each which I did not initially know. They are great cat TV however - mine would watch them for long periods of time. And goldfish interact with their environment which drove the cats nuts since they couldn't get at them. LOL. Goldfish are smart - they need to be as they have about a 20 year life span.
Aww, @mfladd, I'm sorry. Are you looking for a new home, too?
@Barney
This is a listing for one goat. Free to mediocre home. Low-maintenance, prefers shady trees and table scraps. Must be allowed access to tv during fall and winter, otherwise be prepared to have one angry goat.
@jaremelz @Barney I could have been, after my wife came home and discovered what I did to my son for one of my Team Breakfast Octopi gishwhes tasks. More to come on that later.
@jaremelz I'm taking care of my mom's dog. I wonder if the goat and her dog would fight over the TV remote?
@mfladd Can't wait to see what you've done or should I say shouldn't have done?
@Barney Is it at least a larger dog? The goat is rather bitey.
@mfladd We call it character building. It can also be referred to as, "I'll be sleeping on the couch".
@jaremelz My mom's dog kinda looks like this.
Just put the head of a black beagle on the piggy. Needless to say, I've put her dog on a diet. The dog hates me.
@Barney Ooh, adorable piggy!! Although what makes for a cute piggy, does not make for a healthy pup. Good for you, good luck with the doggy death glares!
@Barney maybe your mom wants a ferret talk to @mfladd maybe you can make a deal for his ferret.
@ceagee "The username you have pinged - @mfladd
is no longer in service. If you feel that you have reached this message in error, please hang up and ping again. No forwarding addresses for ferrets are available at this time. Thank you."
@mfladd and yet here you are goat.
@ceagee I wouldn't want to separate @mfladd from his ferret. They make such a lovely couple.
@mfladd speaking of gishwhes tasks are these being posted anywhere so we can live vicariously?
@Barney
@mfladd and ferret
Sittin' in a tree
K-i-s-s...what the hell is wrong with you, man, stop doing that!
@Kidsandliz good question. We were under wraps during the contest due to secret mission protocols. I think @Katylava has some plans for the images (Oh Lord) in the near future. The team had some very talented people (just not me).
@jaremelz @Barney @ceagee
@mfladd I look forward to seeing those (and laughing I hope). Could you please email me at my username at yahoo?
@mfladd I just noticed you wrote that in past tense. Is it over?
@Kidsandliz I think katylava is going to make something available for everyone, but I will let you know :)
@Kidsandliz It finished up Sat. night.
@mfladd We do dis because...
@jaremelz Thanks for the laughs. I needed that.
Yay! I made @Barney laugh!
@Barney He's all yours
@mfladd Hmm, I believe the contest rules state that the prize may not be transferred. Besides, what do you have against furry little ferrets?
@Barney Congratulations! you were the 100th post of thread! As a contestant winner a special prize will be coming your way. Just sent me your address at mfladd@iwillbesendingyouaferret.com for more details. Congratulations again!
@mfladd Nope, nice try! Nite-nite.
@Barney G-Nite! Purplish Dreams (with evil purple ferrets).
@Barney you should really hold out for 40 more mins... you know there is a website that puts new deals up at midnight eastern every day right?
@thismyusername Aww, I wouldn't want to break my buying streak.
The crate of kittens that @narfcake found reminded me that I never told you what happened to the ferret.
I will share with you 10 things I learned a lot about ferrets in the 10 days it was here :
Ferrets don't follow the internet. They don't necessarily play with the things ferret sites say they will or like to play in water. They may like to drink out of the sink and faucet however, if they can keep their feet dry.
They like all things rubber. Not plastic, rubber. ( not that kind. I know what you are thinking ) It had a thing for the rubber drain hair-catcher thing in the shower.
( I would let it run around in the bathroom for a bit to get it out of the cage )
Ferrets are fearless. Which can be a good and bad thing.
Once my little fluffy cat got accidentally locked downstairs with it, I found her up in her window perch. Apparently she ignored it, but then when I was there ferret came out from under the towel it burrowed in to sleep. Then her bulged out of her head. I took it out of the cage and held it out for her to see. It wanted to sniff her and make her a friend. She hissed at it and slowly backed away and then took off. Critters like that should run from her, not act like that.
Ferrets are litter trained, but they poop a lot. And you have to remember that as soon as they wake up they need to poop. So if you pick them up right when they wake up and they can't get to their box because you are holding them....
Ferrets like to burrow under towels, your arm, your hair, the trash can. It's all good.
Ferrets are tattooed to show where they were bred and what their sex is and if they have been de-scented. Those dots on their ears are not fleas and you can't pull them off. That is the tattoo.
Ferrets Stink. Even ones that are de-scented. Even if you wash their towel and clean their litter box all the time.
They drink a lot of water
They can be very picky eaters. This ferret liked dry cat food and loved cat crunchy treats. The sites all say ferrets are carnivores and like meat. I thought it would prefer the canned food my cats get, or freeze dried chicken or salmon treats. Nope. Only the junk food treats please and keep them coming. ( It always had a bowl of dry that was grain free)
They have 2 speeds: on and off. They like to cuddle when they are "off" . They want to explore and get into things and ignore you when they are "on" Luckily they sleep as much as cats do. Maybe more. But when they do snuggle they are wonderfully sweet and cuddly.
After all that learning, I realized a ferret was not a pet I wanted. I had put ads in the paper and online. I called and emailed all the neighbors. Nada.
An internet friend told relayed to me information on a couple ferret rescue groups nearish me. One was a sanctuary a hour and 1/2 away. It looked like the ferret Hilton on their website.
The friend from the local shelter checked with the vet who teaches vet techs at the local CC, as she has a ferret person come to give a lecture on ferrets to her class.
It turned out it was the person from the ferret Hilton.
She would take it, but we had to have it's shots up to date. The plan was I was to call vets and take it for a health check up and shots and the friend and I would meet the woman half way.
The Monday morning I was to contact the vets and get it in, I got pulled elsewhere and was waiting til after their lunch hour was over.
During that lunch hour I got a call from shelter friend: There's a woman here looking for her pet ferret, should I send her right over ? Yes !
A friend of hers saw the post on the internet and she went to the shelter thinking that's where it was.
She came by with the "real" owner -- her 6 yo son.
As soon as she picked it up it licked her on the face ! It never did that with me. Oh she said it was a real love bug. And the little boy just handled it like they were best of friends. She lives a few blocks away and through a busy intersection. Amazing the little ferret made it over here, and that she came to the right recycle box ! ( And what she was after in there was an old rubber ball I had just tossed in that was deflated)
She said she would take them( she has a couple) outside to play around in the yard. They always stayed around. But one went in the bush and when she went to get it, the other one vanished. She thought it was a goner. Her other ferret was depressed, hiding and not eating missing its friend.
She also told me the ferrets name, but I forgot it, as they also had several nicknames for it.
There was a sort of synchronicity to the whole thing. One day later and it would of been gone.
tl;dr And they lived happily ever after.
@ceagee What a great end to the story!
@ceagee I was wondering what happened to your little friend. Thanks for the update!
@mfladd I'm sure this is bittersweet for you. Happy the ferret was reunited w. its persons, but at the same time oh so very sad that you are not going to get this ferret. I'm sorry.
But I'm sure if you go on down to your nearest shelter you can find one or two to adopt ( they are happier having another ferret to romp with ) or I can give you the name of the ferret sanctuary ! Your kids will love you. Hero dad, yay ! ( or find out where narfcake took those cute kitties )
@ceagee Ahem, I'm waiting...
@Barney uh oh i'm in trouble. I'll get right on that. soonishly.
@ceagee That's a great story! I'm glad it made it back home.
@ceagee I am so glad to hear Happy is back home safe. I hope narfcake's kitties also find good homes. No more for me. I already have 4 rescues in the house (plus two dogs), and a new rescue cat out in the shed (don't feel bad, it a huge shed/garage and he hasn't been vaccinated or fixed yet - but is super lovable). My sister said that she would take it, but then I need to transport to CT. (which I will probably do). I would go the humane society route (but they euthanize here). All the no kill shelters are full up. Thanks for letting me know the good news.
@ceagee Is it legal to keep a ferret as a pet in your state? Sounds like it is.
@SSteve yes. But they can only be bred certain places ( hence the tattoo ) and they have to be fixed before sold.