friends, please meet "Schnickers"

Here's a couple quick pics from my neighbor's home, this afternoon while I was otherwise helping them move some furniture -- I'll try to make the story brief, and I hope y'all might enjoy it. :-)

This is me meeting SCHNICKERS the ferret for the first time. She's just a tiny little thing (I really thought most ferrets were larger?) and is also apparently quite *elderly* as ferrets go. I knew they had a ferret -- I've seen the cage (behind me in pics) a few times before -- but never before actually seen its occupant who is, reportedly, usually also decidedly 'anti-social' in her old age. I use the word 'reportedly' there, but one way or the other she was in view reclining in her little hammock today, and when I knelt down and extended a finger towards her in the cage, she sniffed and stirred closer, and sniffed some more and stirred closer some more -- things (again reportedly) she does *not* generally do to strangers.

Naturally I asked if I could hold her -- my neighbor lady opened the cage door, and Schnickers didn't even flinch as she was put into my hands. THEN, as the pics show, she crawled around my chest and sniffed at me a little more, before promptly snuggling herself up in my arms seemingly perfectly happy to get rubbed on gently while we all continued conversating -- to the point we all noticed her tiny little eyelids were drooping as if she was going to sleep. ALL in just a few minutes.

That's when my neighbor grabbed her phone and took these pics -- again remarking how completely unusual it apparently is for Schnickers to behave so politely, especially to a stranger. I didn't know -- only that for whatever reason she was a delightfully warm and calm little critter. Made me (again) want to get a ferret as matter of fact -- I've been around them as other people's pets before and have always wanted one of my own, but between the cat (-s, and now dogs) and whatnot (they're supposed to be 'high maintenance'?) haven't ever got one.

And we finished conversating and Schnickers went back into her cage and I went back home across my driveway. A little later my neighbor's husband came over and rang the bell, bringing a bottle of "gift" ;-) to us for the furniture moving help, and then he told me more of the story. Apparently my neighbor lady got quite emotional shortly after we'd left and came home, because it apparently really IS quite unusual for Schnickers to even *tolerate* anybody but them -- much less to curl up and go to sleep in a strange dude's arms.

And this was quite meaningful to her -- much more than I could know -- because *they* got Schnickers, years ago now, upon the untimely death of Schnickers' original owner who was a dear friend. Her husband used the word "never" to describe how the little critter took to me immediately -- never, that is, since her first owner passed and they became her peoples instead...and including to *them*, since...???

Still don't know *why* -- how does one ever know what goes on in the minds of our pets -- but they said I do bear some general resemblance to the original owner guy, and I smoke (like he did, but they don't) so . . . ???

OH WELL -- that's the story. Ain't it fun to be "liked"?? (by a living breathing thing that is, instead of some or other hit-counter on a website?) Feels pretty good too, to learn that something I did naturally (and mostly accidentally) ended up meaning so much to my neighbors. :-) :-) :-) :-) :-)