Our Beloved Scooter

I've been trying to put off this post because I feel like it's the end of our beloved friend. Unfortunately Scooters surgery was not a success and we had to put him down. The tumor had grown into some major arteries and he was losing too much blood.

Scooter, Scooter, Scooter.... Where to start? Before we were married Jonathan had been bored and decided to start building a cage. He worked so hard on this cage and eventually completed it within a few weeks. If any of you have seen this cage it is quite exquisite. It has a winding staircase and all! After completion Jonathan was just DYING to have a pet to put in this cage. He was thinking of a ferret. Jonathan went to the Island Pet Center and asked to look at the ferrets. The cage was open and as Jonathan reached his hand in one little guy jumped onto his arm immediately. He said "I'll take that one!"

A couple weeks after Jonathan had Scooter I came to Washington to visit for Christmas and brought Scooter a stocking full of toys and treats. His first time meeting mommy. It was quite interesting because I had never been around ferrets before and found him SO annoying. After we were married and settled in our apartment Scooter learned to escape from his cage (ferrets are EXCELLENT escape artists). I was so frustrated with him not staying in his cage I was ready to take him back to the pet store! All I can say now is, I'm glad I didn't.

Over the years we've added 3 other ferrets to our ferret clan. Miss Priss, Tweeker, and Mr. Hankey. Everytime we added a new one Scooter always was a good big brother in showing them the ropes and of coarse showing them who was boss! Miss Priss adored him and would always groom and love him. They had a deep connection.

Scooter was our smartest ferret. He knew how to beg, roll and melt your heart with that cute face. It was quite funny when we first got him. He loved his tennis balls, and he LOVED to keep them organized just the right way. We would play a game with him where we would mess up his little ball pile in the corner and see how long it would take him to put them right back into the little pile. Then we would mess it up again and he would look at us like "MOM DAD!!!!! I just made that perfect!" Then he would put them back into his little pile.

Scooter also loved powertools. Whenever Jonathan was in the middle of a project that involved tools, they would always go missing and end up under the couch. He also LOVED chocolate bars, straws and root beer. A few weeks ago our good friend Phil was over and had a drink. Scooter sneakily came up on the table, snatched it and ran away as fast as possible.

One thing that set him apart was his love for Jonathan and I. He was the only ferret who would come up to you and lay on your lap and fall asleep. He was also the only one who seemed to come and check on us to see if we were still there. We will truly miss that close bond we shared with him.

We can't express how much we love him and how saddened and heart broken we are over his passing. We would like to thank Parrish Creek for trying thier best. They sent us Scooter's paw prints. That meant the world to us.

We made Scooter a lovely casket out of a leather photo box and lined it with silk. We put some rose petals in there from our wedding day (the flower girl petals). We put in his favorite ball and squeeky toy. We also included a letter from Jonathan and I. Saying goodbye was hard. We let each ferret have a chance to go up and say thier final goodbyes. It was so touching to see Miss Priss try to groom him. She took it hard I think. They all knew there was something wrong.

After the final goodbyes we tied the box shut with yarn and wrapped the box in a shirt. We buried him in the backyard next to Jerry, Jonathan's cat who passed away a few years ago from cancer. We said a prayer and laid him to rest.

We know we will see him again. Heaven would not be Heaven with out our pets. Scooter was our son. If Scooter isn't there waiting for me, I will have a talk with Heavenly Father about that ;-).

Scooter we love you so much and we will never forget you and the joy you brought to our family!

Love, Mommy and Daddy