Balls and Walnuts
more than you ever wanted to know
Permanently blissed.
Charlotte Brontë died sometime last night. She was getting up there for a ferret, maybe six years old, and had begun losing hair from her back. Last time we let her out of her cage to jump around, she didn’t jump around much, just raced off to her favorite spot in the bathroom to have another nap. No dancing, no chook-chooking.
This isn’t one of those depressing “woe is me, my beloved pet hath bit the big one” posts. Charlotte died in her sleep, looking as contented as she did in the above photo. I’ve seen so many pets die badly: Chi Chi, my sibling rival who died slowly from congestive heart failure; Perrita, my pal growing up who died while I was away at college, cause of death equal parts old age and neglect from my parents; Brownie the Rat, one of our favorite pets, who died of breast cancer. Baby, our boa constrictor and the first pet Karen and I bought as a couple, went insane after two failed pregnancies, developed mouth rot, and seemed to be suffering so much we had to put her down. Hamachi, our four-horned chameleon, who had more personality than many humans I’ve known, died of natural causes; but when chameleons die, they turn jet black and their eyes sink into their heads. It looks painful.
Our pets seem to die badly no matter how well we try to take care of them. And that’s why this story has such a happy ending: we loved Charlotte, we knew she was old and bound to move on at any time, and she died in her sleep, not a hint of pain evident in her expression or body habitus. I’m very happy about that.
Charlotte was such a sweetie, I’m tempted to get another ferret or two. But what about a guinea pig? Or hamsters? Or gerbils? Or rabbits?
D.
Sorry about Charlotte; she really does look peaceful in that photo. Poor thing.
Thanks, Sis. I think she had a pretty good life. We kept her cage in our bedroom, which in our household is THE happening place (we all eat dinner up there, watch TV, play computer games, etc.) so she always felt like she was part of the family.
It’s always sad to hear about the passing of a beloved pet, but to know she didn’t suffer is a great relief. Sorry for your loss, I know how much you love your animals mean to you.
She had a great life. She looks so cute there. She lucked out on her home.
My condolences, but I’m glad Charlotte went peacefully. We’re 5 for 5 on peaceful deaths for gerbils, so they might be a good choice. I’ll have to get back to you in a year or 3 on guinea pigs.
Thanks, folks. Just spoke to the family and they’re leaning towards a couple of ferrets.
I wish they lived longer.
They cram a hell of a lot of dooking, weasel war dancing, hoarding socks behind the fridge, fearless exploring and wrestling into those short lives. Our two are always great fun.
I’m sure she’s dancing and chook-chooking away in ferret heaven right now.
My vote is for gerbils! They are great fun. Give them a little bit of bedding, a few cardboard tubes and some paper towels and they’ll have a complex maze built in under 24 hours. It’s amazing. I think they bite much less than hampsters, and are nowhere near as noisy (actually quite silent)as guinea pigs.Rabbits are ok, but always seem one step away from being feral for me to trust them.
Hell Doug, what’s wrong with a puppy?
I’m sorry for your loss, but I’m sure you’re right. She had a great home and went peacefully. I’m sure she’s telling all the other animals on the other side how great you are.
It totally sucks that ferrets have such a short life expectancy – they’re so much fun! Of course, as you know, a longer life expectancy doesn’t always guarantee a longer life.
Get more ferrets if you want ’em – ferrets are awesome! Although I will say that some of the best pets I’ve known are raccoons and skunks. Oftentimes too smart and mischievous to handle, especially the raccoons, but the nice ones are loving and entertaining as all get-out.
Either way, I will live vicariously through you, as I can’t have any more pets at the moment.
microsoar: I agree. Nothing says FUN like a dooking ferret 😉 (I always forget that word, “dooking”.)
Lyvvie, my son doesn’t much like dogs, so it would be up to me to provide stimulation. I would need the world’s most reclusive dog in order not to short-change him the affection.
DN, thanks. Ferrets it is! I wish I could get a descented skunk, but I’m not sure where or how to find one.
poor charlotte. that stinks.
i know you’ve decided on more ferrets, but i personally am a big fan of guinea pigs. they’re small enough not to take up much space, big enough that handling them a lot is not a problem, and they’ve got great personalities. we have one in our dorm room even though it’s illegal, and she is great, very friendly and fun to watch–we call her spaz (though her real name is truffles) cuz she does such crazy things. we love our spazzie. 😀
Yup, I’m thinking about guinea pigs, too, in case we don’t find any ferrets we like. I’ve never kept guinea pigs.
I’m so sorry you lost Charlotte, but glad she went so peacefully. I didn’t realize ferrets didn’t have a longer lifespan. What about a cat? We had our last cat for 19 years and she went peacefully.
However, if you’re not a cat person, the guinea pig option might be good too. I had a pet squirrel (raised her from a baby, and couldn’t release her into the wild because she was born crippled – her front legs didn’t work). She was a great pet and lived to be about 9 when she died of extreme old age. I always figured guinea pigs would make good pets, being sort of rodential. I don’t think they’re technically rodents though. Anyway, good luck finding the right next pet, and once again, condolences on the loss of Charlotte.
We have two cats, mg. I suspect they would both freak out over a new addition.
Squirrel — sounds like she was a fun pet.
I truly enjoy my guinea pigs — we have four. They live in a big run around cage in the family room. They sit on our laps on towels (not much bladder control there) in the evenings while we watch TV while we feed them veggies. Very calm and sweet, but no where NEAR as much fun as a ferret. Guinea pig run laps in their cage and popcorn, which is fun to watch, but again, it’s not the same as living with a ferret, even an older ferret.
The one thing about guinea pigs is that they need a much larger cage than the commercial cages in the stores. so for such a small animal, you end up giving up a lot of your space to them.
I’ll have to post pictures of my cage and of the girls, Rosa, Takame, Patience, and Amarreti.