RIP Boo Radley English

Boo Radley English (? – July 26, 2006) was put to sleep yesterday. She had adrenal disease.

You were the king of clowns, my fetid friend. You were conniving and devious. I know you would have been the perfect partner for a heist and I wish we had the chance to drink together. I want to see your crooked stagger again. I’ll miss you living in my sock drawer. God bless you.

Ferret Facts:

• Male ferrets are Hobs and Female ferrets are Jills. Neutered they become gibs or sprites. If you get a bunch of ferrets together, they are a business of ferrets or a busyness of ferrets. A baby ferret is a kit.
• Ferrets are extremely intelligent.
• Ferrets sleep a large part of the day, commonly around 18 hours.
• They have been domesticated for probably 2000 years or more, and were brought to America as pets as long as 300 years ago.
• The name ferret is derived from the latin furonem, which means “thief.” Ferret owners can attest that this is a well deserved name, as they will happily steal anything they can get their paws on and hide it in their house.
• Ferrets come from the same family (“Mustelidae”) as badgers, wolverines, sea otters, skunks, mink, weasels, black footed ferrets and polecats.
• The distant ancestry of the domestic ferret is somewhat of a mystery, although they are very closely related to the European polecat.
• The scientific name for ferrets is a somewhat controversial area – Mustela putorius furo is traditionally used, although recent scientific evidence has suggested they should have a name of their own, Mustela furo.