shelter website: www.fathernaturesferretrescue.com
Ferrets reentered our lives about 2 years ago with a coworker that was unable to keep his fuzzies. From there ferret math took over. My infinitely patient wife, Evelyn (Mother Nature), and I started this Father Natures Ferret Rescue after a trip to a local county shelter. We were heartbroken over the ferrets that were improperly cared for, not from neglect by any means but due to the lack of knowledge of ferrets needs. The amount of dogs and cats that these shelters receive is overwhelming. They do not have enough volunteers to dedicate the time to ferrets.
We have since met with all the local shelters in our area and the response was fantastic. They were eager to learn and are now aware of how to care for our little fuzzy friends for a short period of time. The shelters contact Father Natures upon receiving a surrendered or stray ferret and we normally have the little weasel to the vets and back to the rescue within 48 hours.
Our main goal at Father Natures is to find forever, loving and ferret savvy homes for these little creatures that have stolen our hearts. Even though each adopted ferret takes a little piece of our hearts when they leave, we only want what is best for them.
Tessa was one of our earliest rescues. Sadly Tessa has gone to the Rainbow Bridge. She arrived at Father Natures so flea infested that she was anemic from the blood loss. This poor little baby was riddled with cancer and suffered from Insulinoma, which caused her to have frequent seizures. Soon after arriving here she lost the use of her back legs and we started to design a cart for her to get around. After weeks of trying to make her comfortable and having her know at least some time with folks that loved her, she looked up at me as if to say Poppa, I’ve had enough. She was in too much pain to let her suffer and she gently passed in my arms.
The main challenge to sheltering is knowing when to say enough. We have learned that we can’t save every fuzzy and at times must refuse to take in more. We know the number of ferrets we can keep in the rescue and provide the best care both financially and physically. We have started a waiting list which we put into effect when our numbers get too high. This allows us to provide one on one care to every fuzzy here. We know we can’t change the world but for each fuzzy we save their whole world changes.
The positive side to rescuing is very simple. We know in our hearts that we are doing our best to save these little shooting stars. In retrospect, a ferret’s life is fairly short (6-10 years). We just want to provide them with as much joy as they give us in the short time they are here. There is no better feeling then getting a follow up on a fuzzy we placed in a forever, loving home and hearing the love in their new caregiver’s voice.
