|
|
|
|
 Program Program Donation Business Partners Thank You
 Page Page
as Pets Care Ferrets
|
|
Weasels Dancing in the Park August 2010
I have made a lovely slideshow with all of the pictures I took at the event. If you want to view it and it is blocked, click on the banner at the top of the page and click "Allow Blocked Content".
If you would rather view it separately, click here.
Our annual fundraiser, Weasels Dancing in the Park, is always a great opportunity to get the word out about ferrets, to raise a little money for our shelter, and to have a bit of ferrety fun.
This year proved to be no different than the last, except for one thing: Where did all of these extra people come from? Yes, there were even more people, and more ferrets, than the usual bunch. We had double, or even triple, the participation in the games. And our auction? There was a lot more competition than the previous years, as new members battled old hands for the right to own those donated goodies.
Each year, as the newsletter editor, I like to make sure I document all of this fun for our readers. However, even though I have to take lots of pictures, I still like participating in the games too. They are just too fun to pass up!
This time around, I brought my 3-plus-pound silver male named Snoball to compete in the games. He is a friendly old bugger, gentle with people and very sociable around other ferrets. He is also familiar with the games, having competed for several years in a row, even winning the Rice Dig last year. We really looked forward to having a lot of fun with him. I also looked forward to printing pictures of him winning the games. Sadly, this was not to be.
The Bag Bust Out
The first event was the Bag Bust Out. The object of the game is to get your ferret to launch themselves out of a closed paper bag. First one completely out of the bag wins.
Some ferrets are exceptional at this game. Last year, my ferret, Tekkie, surprised us all by becoming enraged after we folded over the bag top. She used this anger to claw her way out in milliseconds, winning (and scaring) us all.
This year, however, Snoball seemed pretty darn content to stay in the dark recesses of the bag. Perhaps he was emulating Keanu Reeves, trying to act his way out of a paper bag and failing miserably. We’ll never know because eventually we took pity on him and just let him out.
The Rice Dig
This is a crowd favorite. Ferrets love to dig, as anyone who has seen the horrible aftermath of a ferret’s “special bonding time” with a potted plant can attest. And regular rice makes a great digging medium that doesn’t make your ferret dirty while he or she digs.
However, one never knows how one’s ferret is going to react in front of a crowd. Some ferrets will eagerly fling rooster tails of rice all over their living rooms at home, but will freeze like a deer in the headlights when presented with the pressures of performing for an audience.
Snoball must have had a horrible case of stage fright. For even though, at home, invoking his name strikes fear in the hearts of all rice bins everywhere, and his ability to fling rice to the four corners of the Earth is rivaled by none, this particular time, he decided that he was going to sit this one out.
Even though his shame was great, at least he didn’t take off running like many of the ferrets did. Or poop in the rice.
Perry, the beloved sable of Lisa Harris, ended up winning first place in the Rice Dig. His skills were great, his form was excellent. Congratulations!
As an aside: You should know that many ferrets love to dig and would benefit from having a rice box to play in. They look like little otters as they swim and snorkle in the mix. All you need is a box and rice (the sides should be a little high to prevent the rice from showering over the sides as they dig -- I use a Rubbermaid wrapping paper storage box). Some people use those edible packing peanuts instead; some people use actual soil that has been sterilized.
The Tube Race
This is the Weasels Dancing in the Park classic! People may say they come for the auction, but what they really want is to watch the Tube Race.
This is the NASCAR of ferret activities. Even though in theory the game is simple in that all the ferrets have to do is go down a tube and out into the finish line, the reality is a barely ordered mayhem of dashes, darts, squeaks and squeakers, begging, bellowed orders, bribes, threats, and infinitely baffled ferrets. And since the ferret must completely exit the tube to win, it’s anyone’s race until someone’s tail finally crosses the “finish line”.
This year was even more chaotic than usual in that we had a huge number of entries. We had so many that we were forced to have three heats of five people a piece, with a final runoff!
If that doesn’t sound so bad, I’d like you to keep in mind that there were only five tubes. Surrounding these five tubes are two people for each ferret — one to insert the ferret into the tube, and one to coax him or her out of it. Now imagine all of those people on a tarp the size of a game of “Twister”. Actually, don’t bother to imagine it — we have pictures!
The Pop Can Tip
This is a cherished tradition among the Weasels Dancing in the Park oldsters. The object of this game is for the ferret to tip over as many aluminum cans as possible within 30 seconds. Since the cans are relatively light, the size of the ferret is not a deciding factor. Rather, the feistiness and curiosity of the ferret is what determines who knocks down the most.
Since my ferret, Snoball, LOVES soda pop and will do pretty much anything to get some, I figured that I had a secret advantage. Theoretically, Snoball would be enticed by the lingering scent of delicious forbidden soda and do what he does at home — namely, tip over a bunch of cans in search of a sip of that sweet sweet nectar. My hardwood floor can attest to Snoball’s killer instinct when it comes to pop cans.
However, apparently the trick to getting Snoball to tip over pop cans is to fill them up with soda. (Careful positioning over expensive wooden furniture or flooring also seems to be key.) Much to my chagrin, I discovered that empty cans, when placed where spilling them will do no damage, only merit a quick sniff. My plan was FOILED!
Well, at least it was better than last year, when I entered Millie. Not only did she not knock over any cans, she actually stood up on her back legs, pulled one halfway over to take a sniff, then carefully pushed it back to rest upright.
My ferrets are freaks.
This year, we had more than 25 entrants in the Pop Can Tip. This is about twice as many as we had last year. Things were pretty crazy. Just pushing my way in to get pictures was a feat. However, I did manage to snag a few.
The Auction
The games are lots of fun for everyone. But we all know the reason that Weasels Dancing in the Park even takes place — to make money for the shelter. And this year, our auction was huge!
We had all sorts of stuff. We had many many pet items, and the bidding for those was fierce. I was actually quite stunned at how high the bidding went. I got outbid a LOT. But that was OK, seeing as how Snoball’s performance didn’t really merit any rewards anyway.
Some of the most popular items included ferret art, baskets of pet items, various cages and carriers, and the ever-coveted Climb-n-Sail. The Climb-N-Sail was particularly important because that incredibly popular toy has been discontinued. (You can read more about my romance with the Climb-n-Sail on my blog at http://oregonferretshelter.blogspot.com/2008/05/ofs-meeting-on-may-10.html)
We were all a bit panicked at first since we didn’t have our usual auctioneer. But one of our longtime volunteers, Tracy Johnston, jumped into the fray and got the ball rolling. She was amazing! Her performance, sprinkled with jokes and anecdotes about her own ferret ownership, saved the day. We have her to thank for the dizzying heights that were reached during various bidding wars.
As the auction progressed, things heated up quickly. There were almost 30 lots of various items, and there was a lot to get through. There were gift certificates with almost every lot. There were ferret-themed cards, ferret necklaces, ferret bedding, ferret tubes, and all sorts of animal lovers’ items. However, not everything was for animals. There were spa baskets and kits with a lot of Avon and massage certificates. There was a big shop vac and a Bissel cleaner. There was even a huge remote control car!
As a direct result of the hard work put into the event, combined with our sponsors’ generosity, our auction was an amazing success.
Thank Yous for Everyone!
Lin Miller needs to be mentioned. She works tirelessly throughout the year as a volunteer for the shelter cleaning day (every Wednesday!). But when Weasels Dancing in the Park comes around, that is really her time to shine! She is the one who is at the shelter the night before our event, until midnight or later, arranging all of the goodies into easily biddable baskets.
I also want to make sure to mention Todd Clark, without whom we would have no music and no sound system. His continued support of the Oregon Ferret Shelter is inspirational and very much appreciated.
Kevin Bonner also helped put some spark into this event. He served as referee and timer for several of the events. He also helped Tracy with the auction. As one of Chris’ most trusted foster dads, he is known for his kindness toward older ferrets and for his willingness to step up when help is needed.
There are so very many people to thank. Please know that you are appreciated, and we realize that without you, we would not be able to do our job — saving ferrets’ lives.
The Final FINAL Score
All in all, we had about 300 attendees and made about $2000 for the Oregon Ferret Shelter. We all had a great time sharing our stories and showing off our companions while helping a good cause. We also had a great time at the auction, where we got to learn about all of the new things available in the ferret world (and about businesses that are ferret-friendly and deserve our patronage). To see the list of other businesses who came through and were able to help us with our event, click here. Make sure and tell them how much we appreciate them!
But the fun wasn't just for us. Many people who were unfamiliar with ferrets had a good chance to learn about and appreciate our fuzzies, which is what these fundraisers and other outreaches are all about. I hope that we can continue to have these events that help bring ferrets and people together in a fun and loving way.
OREGON FERRET SHELTER E-mail The Oregon Ferret Shelter Here at oregonferretshelter(at)comcast.net
LOGO OF SHELTER MASCOT JIMMY O DRAWN BY TRACY GORDON © 2010 OREGON FERRET SHELTER. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
PLEASE CLICK HERE FOR LEGAL
RESTRICTIONS USE OF THIS WEBSITE SIGNIFIES YOUR AGREEMENT
TO THE TERMS OF USE. SITE HOSTED BY: |
|||
|
|
The next event was the ever-popular Rice Dig. The object of this game is for your ferret to dig out as much rice as possible. The one who digs out the most rice (by weight) wins.
First off, we thank Kim Reynolds and her son Kai for all of their efforts at procuring auction items. All those letters and phone calls really paid off! They are some pretty amazing people.
