Ferrets Have Friend In Toni
First came the squirrels, then the ferrets.
The squirrels rained down on Toni Sumerlin, so they were hard to ignore. As babies, they fell out of the palm tree craning toward the sky in her California front yard. Just like that, Toni had a mission.
“We couldn’t just leave them there,” she says.
Toni nurtured the babies the mother had abandoned. She kept some and adopted out others. They were all the rage with the movie crowd.
Squirrels whetted Toni’s appetite, so to speak, for small, furry animals. After she and her husband moved to the Garwood area a few years ago, she began thinking about ferrets. Eighteen months ago, she bought Gizmo.
“They’re cheap, clean, quiet, 10 times more curious than cats. They’re always entertaining,” she says. “They’re better than kids.”
But they’re mischievous. Which sent Toni on another mission.
“We lost Gizmo in a thunderstorm and were very upset. Luckily a neighbor who had a ferret found him,” she says. “I thought there should be someone people can call when that happens.”
Toni, who’s a grandmother, opened a ferret rescue operation a month ago. People call her about pets they’ve lost and ferrets they’ve found. She already has three tenants in addition to her two pet ferrets.
She offers the best in accommodations - handmade sheepskin-lined hammocks, mazes of cardboard boxes.
She’s ferret-proofed her house. She had to dismantle her dishwasher once after Gizmo found his way into a tight spot for a nap. Now metal plates cover every opening in the house.
Last week, Toni ran to the rescue of a ferret in Rathdrum. A woman heard the sleek white animal scratching at the door. She called the humane society, which referred her to Toni.
If no one claims the lost ferrets in 30 days, Toni will put them up for adoption. She says she’ll charge adoptive parents only the amount it cost her in care.
New owners will have to agree to return the pets to Toni if the match doesn’t work. Toni says she’ll take the ferrets back if she finds they’ve been mistreated.
“I might call and check on them,” she says. “It depends how attached I get.”
If you’ve lost or found a ferret in North Idaho, call Toni at 772-4343.
Good investment
If you’re sick of the horrendous amount of child abuse in Kootenai County, here’s your chance to help prevent it. The Kootenai Alliance for Children and Families will hit the airwaves from Kootenai Medical Center this Thursday and Friday. Volunteers will ask KVNI 1080 listeners to pledge money to fight local child abuse and neglect.
Last year, money raised went toward opening a crisis nursery at Children’s Village.
The nursery takes infants when parents need a break or have nowhere else to turn for help. It’s a safety net that keeps some babies out of the wrong hands.
The alliance spends all its money in the county. Five phone lines will be open for pledges: 666-2130 through 34. You also can drop off donations at KMC from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Fun money
The Athol Fire Protection District Auxiliary knows people in North Idaho like to play. So it’s selling the Game of Kootenai County to raise money to buy a new support rig.
The game’s like Monopoly but with local landmarks and businesses. Game spaces are for sale as well as the game. Sounds like a collector’s item. Call 683-9303 to order. Cost is $15 for the game.
What game fits your community best and why? Twister? Candy Land? Play games with Cynthia Taggart, “Close to Home,” 608 Northwest Blvd., Suite 200, Coeur d’Alene, ID 83814; send a fax to 765-7149; call 765-7128; or e-mail to cynthiat@ spokesman.com.
, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo