New Foster Friend - Tanuki the Ferret

Well, there's a first time for everything. I've never fostered a ferret before, and quite frankly I never thought I'd get the chance! Our shelter's normal policy is to send ferrets to rescues, where they will be taken care of by educated staff and paired with other ferrets. They do much better in pairs.

When I found out that the shelter had gotten in a new ferret, I asked if I could give fostering a try. I've had Tanuki for just over a week now. She's doing very well! She's a three year old sable ferret that was found outdoors. Fortunately, she is quite sociable. She only nips playfully when I chase her around. Chasing is her favorite game. As you can see from her photo she is quite flexible, albeit very clumsy.

A few things I have found interesting about ferrets: I was expecting them to be more like rats than any other animal I have had in my care, but they are really much more like puppies that can be litter trained. Tanuki doesn't have the dexterity of rats, although she is fairly intelligent. Not having the use of thumbs like rats makes a huge difference in what she is able to do. She has a lot more energy than the rats I've had, and she can get into a lot more trouble. Ferret proofing is quite the task. The smell was pretty bad at first, but I'm getting used to it. I hardly even notice it anymore, except for when I am holding her. This may have a little something to do with her change in diet, but I think it mainly has to do with me becoming more accustomed to her scent.

All in all, this is not a pet I would choose for myself unless it was the only type of animal I wanted in my house. I think it would be fun to have a pair of ferrets if I didn't already have the rabbits who roam freely in our downstairs.

Here's hoping she finds a good home soon!

Abandoned Baby Squirrels

Most of my friends and customers know that I love animals big and small because I donate a percentage of my sales to my local animal shelter and because I foster small mammals in my home. I also love wildlife, but like many people who interact with urban animals, I know very little about their lives and needs. This weekend provided a learning opportunity!

For a couple days last week, my husband and I had been hearing a high pitched shrieking sound coming from our front yard. We had assumed that it was a bird making this racket, but last Sunday our assumption was proven wrong when we found a lone squirrel at the base of the tree, periodically emitting this same loud sound we had heard.

Adam watched the baby squirrel for a couple hours while I was away at church. Something just wasn't right. We've always watched the baby squirrels in our front tree with delight, but we'd never seen them so small before, let alone without their mother. We called the very helpful folks at Wind River and described the situation. They confirmed our suspicion - the baby was probably an orphan. They told me that oftentimes squirrels rehome their young, a process that takes several hours, but we should have seen the mother. Also, the young often leave the nest and engage in the types of behaviors we were seeing to get their mother's attention when they are abandoned. Unfortunately, if the mother was killed by a car or died for whatever reason, she will never come back.

We were given the contact information of a woman who could take the baby in, and were instructed to feed the baby cantaloupe or watermelon to tide it over until we could get it to the person who could rehabilitate it. He was quite easy to capture, but as soon as we put the box down a second squirrel came out of the hole. After about fifteen minutes of shining a flashlight into the hole and climbing up into the tree with a ladder, we discovered that the litter actually contained five babies. Fortunately they all came out of their nest to see what was happening, so we easily captured them all. They had not yet learned to fear humans, so they came right up to Adam and I (although the last one needed to be coaxed with a piece of watermelon).

Aren't they adorable?! I'm so happy that they are safe and sound in Clinton, Wisconsin with their new human mom. They will be released into the wild in a few weeks, or as soon as they are able to crack nuts on their own.

Strider

This week Adam and I said goodbye to our foster rabbit, Strider. When we first got him two months ago he was charging, lunging, and behaving quite aggressively. With a little patience and a lot of spoiling, he turned into quite the cuddly snuggler. Every evening he hopped into bed with me during reading time for head scratches, and he slept in my bedroom near the heating vent each night.

Strider now lives with a female lionhead rabbit named Fifi and eight guinea pigs. He's going to have a happy life. I was told that twice a day he eats salad off of a giant plate with ALL the small mammals in his home. I think I need a picture of that...

First Needle Sculpting Project

I just finished my first needle sculpting project, a gray rabbit! I bought a needle felting kit from etsy seller fancytiger. She has a nice assortment of kits available to purchase in her etsy shop. I think I might pick up the strawberry or mushroom kits next... It was useful to start learning the techniques by following the directions. I opted to felt some of the hair from our foster rabbit Strider into the project. He was going through a pretty good shed when I started the project.

For those of you who do not know how needle felting or sculpting works - it's really quite simple! It consists of repeatedly stabbing roving (combed, washed wool) with an incredibly sharp needle. I stabbed myself quite a few times during the process, so I can testify to the needles' tenacity. In the photo above I am attaching two seprate balls I had felted to form the head and body of the rabbit.

I often held the project in my hands, which is probably why I ended up pricking my fingers a couple of times. The kit did come with a sponge felting pad that I used during the beginning phases of the project.

In the photo below, I am attempting to smooth out some of the bumps in the project.

And here is what my little friend looked like after I finished sculpting him!

He even had a little bushy cottontail.

I have a feeling that this is the first of many (hopefully increasingly advanced) needle felting projects I will tackle. The process was really quite relaxing. I'd like to also continue to use the hair from animals I am fostering for the shelter. It's kind of a fun way to create a project that will always remind me of them.

Snow Day Sale!!!

In honor of being stuck at home due to inclement weather Heart Felt Wool is having a snow day sale! Orders over $15 will receive free shipping in the form of a prompt paypal refund after checkout. This includes the catnip toy three packs that are already a fantastic deal. The sale will end at 12 a.m. central time.

Stay warm and toasty!

First Custom Finger Puppet

Well, I've done some one-of-a-kind pieces before, but I never imagined I would create the likeness of a historical figure in finger puppet form. A couple weeks back I was approached with a request to create a Teddy Roosevelt wearing a Rough Riders uniform. Why? The request comes from the boyfriend of a young woman who made an awful pun about Teddy RooseFELT. Too. Cute.

Here's the final product:

Here's a photo for reference:

His bandana and hat are my favorite accessories. I'm secretly hoping for more requests. It would be fun to make some literary puppets like the Little Thinkers finger puppets that are so popular.

Newest Foster Friends

Most of my customers are aware that I donate a percentage of my sales to the Oshkosh Area Humane Society, but I don't often speak about my foster pets on the blog, so I thought I'd take the time to share some information about my girls: Muffin and Mable.

I've worked with many small mammals at the shelter and I've fostered a few that I didn't think I could give up, but I've never been this in love. I've had the girls for about a month now, and it's been an amazing experience to watch them blossom into the companion animals they were always meant to be. When I first got them they were very nippy. I was feeling pretty sarcastic when I gave Muffin her name. I didn't think she would ever stop biting, spinning around aggressively or fluffing up her fur in disgust when I would try to pick her up.

Now Muffin never displays aggressive behavior and is really becoming quite loving. Mable was friendly from the moment she arrived, but now that I have been handling her and playing with her each day she is becoming very bonded to me. She loves riding around on my shoulder, nibbling and licking my ears affectionately, and snuggling up to me under the blankets when we're watching TV.

I truly do want the girls to find a home soon so they won't have to travel from place to place anymore, but it's going to be very hard to give them up. The girls were surrendered, living at the shelter for awhile, adopted, and returned. This is their fourth home; I'm hoping the fifth one will be the last. I just keep telling myself that the girls need to go so I can foster another animal I'll fall in love with, but it's hard to think about the future when the present is so joyful.

If you are interested in learning more about the girls or if you know someone that could give the a good home, here is their listing on Petango.

The Essence of Etsy

I just found this fabulous video that rekindled my desire to design and make new things.

OshCon 2009

I haven't been publishing updates as often as I'd like, but this doesn't mean I haven't been busy sewing and selling catnip toys! Last weekend I was an exhibitor at OshCon for the first time. OshCon is a tabletop board game convention held right here in my hometown: Oshkosh, Wisconsin. I have attended previously as a gamer, but this year was my first year as a vendor.

There was a great turnout this year, as you can see:

An intense battle of War of the Ring. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't want to be responsible for defending the free peoples from the shadow forces on a Saturday.

My table was located in the "artist" room, previously referred to as the "gaming widows" room.

Here are some of the colors available for miniature painting. This brought a lot of people into the room which was great for sales.

Some people hard at work painting their minis.

I never noticed this until Adam start photographing my catnip toy adventures, but I seem to always sew with my mouth open.

Here I am sewing at my booth. I had a "make-your-own catnip toy" thing going on, hence the huge pile of felt. People seemed more interested in buying a toy that was already made than creating their own, though. Every time I sewed a Cthulhu catnip toy I sold it, so I was sewing them all day long.

Our friend Phil Krause hard at work selling some books... or cheering about something.

Photos courtesy of Adam Bartlett.

Knock Knocking is having a wreath giveaway!

I have been obsessed with these wreaths. Every few weeks I check back to see if a new wreath yarn wreath has been added. Well now you and I have a chance to win one of these beauties! Please enter the contest knockknocking is having on her blog to try your luck!

Cutest Harvest Ever.

As the summer is fading into autumn, my garden seems to be producing vegetables in smaller and smaller quantities, however, I wasn't expecting to harvest miniature veggies today.

What an adorable little carrot and tiny siamese twin tomatoes!