We lost our old ferret Derby in November 2006; she passed five days before my birthday and it was a very sad occasion. On the evening of 11/28/06 we found her in her hammy with a sweet gentle smile on her face but her little spirit had already left us for the Rainbow Bridge.

Derby entered our lives about 7 years ago and she was a very precious old lady. The first crochet ferret eggs she had were some I had found on eBay and bought them for her and the other ferrets.  I then immediately began making the eggs for our guys and never looked back. Every single egg I made, according to Derby, or in HER way of thinking, they were ALL hers. New eggs had to be put under lock and key otherwise if she could get to them, they were all taken to her favorite hidey-hole to join her egg stash already there. Once we moved the couch and cleaned out behind it and she had 34 eggs back there... she was not a happy camper, her precious egg nest had been disturbed.

This little ferret worked tirelessly every day moving her eggs. I would let everyone out of their cage and immediately Derbs would get busy moving her eggs. She would move them to a location, decide that wasn’t a good enough spot for her treasures and then scout out a new place to hide them all again; her eggs might go through as many as three movings a day and Lord help the poor misguided fuzzy who thought they might cabbage on to a couple of her eggs.

Derby was my inspiration for getting into making the eggs and she continues to be so; I know there are lots more 'Derbys' out there.  I get emails from people telling me how their ferrets watch over and safeguard their eggs just as Derby did hers.

I had some mini-size eggs and I crocheted a few and gave them to Derby but every time I would give her one of them, she would play with it for a little while and then make a point of bringing it back to me and I couldn’t figure this out. Finally someone else suggested to me that Derby was bringing the egg back to me to give it a chance to grow up. Maybe she was, who knows what went on in that fuzzy little head of hers.

Derby had a lot of slow days as she aged and then she had her days when she was kicking butt and asking questions later. One Sunday hubby had to get after her and Ollie for scrapping. Ollie; one of Derby's cage mates was in a hammy and Derby wanted it but Ollie was not about to get out of it and let Derby have it. I know Derby could be a huge pain in the butt, she was spoiled rotten, bossy, and sassy as all hell but she was old, she had been through a lot, and she deserved to be spoiled and treated like a queen or I thought she did. These old fuzzies that have been drug around from pillow to post and never really had a home they could call their own or a person they could count on, those are the ones my heart goes out to, those are the ones I will take in an instant and try to cram a whole lifetime of love into just a few short years.

I miss her so much; that sweet little face, bright shinny black button eyes, and her sassy disposition. She was my Derby and I don't think I will ever find another old ferret with the same spunk as she had. Derby had arthritis in her back legs and some days she ran and walked like an arthritic duck for lack of a better description. I can see her now dashing down the hallway with another of her precious eggs to take and stash. All I can say is, if there are other ferrets at the Rainbow Bridge who brought eggs from home, they better not let Derby know they got em, she will be stealing em.

I always thought of Derby as a lady that was at one time very regal and beautiful. I feel certain if she had worn a hat, she would have stuck purple flowers in it. I love you and miss you BabyGirl, I just wish we had had more time together; like maybe another 20 years or more.  

If you are a shelter, rescue, or sanctuary you get an automatic 10% discount and the shipping is free if you are located within the US. If you are located outside the US, email me so I can figure your order; you will of course get the discount but I will have to charge for the shipping and I apologize for that but I barely break even as it is and international shipping can get a bit pricey.

We have 14 ferrets and most of those are rescues we did, either the person threw the ferret away no longer wanting them or they were rescued out of a dire situation; starving and/or very poor care. Proceeds go for getting vet care for these guys and paying for surgeries; mainly adrenal surgeries. When a rescued oldster is too old for adrenal surgery we go by the way of Melantonin implants.