The only problems were that (A) I had my ferrets with me, and (B) I could only bring two suitcases, each weighing no more than 50 lbs!
The latter was simply a matter of deciding which crafty thing I would spend most time on throughout the school year, so I left my clays and acrylic paints back home, and I can play with them next summer. I decided to bring my fabric paints and my jewellery making supplies with me. This impedimenta, along with my clothes and other necessities, just barely made it onto the plane (one suitcase weighed 50.6 lbs- but the nice lady let me on the plane anyways).
Getting the ferrets back with me was quite a complicated matter, although it needn't be. In Canada, a travel law was recently passed, allowing passengers to bring their small dog or cat with them as carry-on, in one of those plastic carriers, so long as it could fit beneath the seat. Well, my ferrets easily fit in a small cat carrier (that is how we go to the vet) and they would have happily slept through the short flight.
However, the only animals allowed to ride as carry on are cats and small dogs. Furthermore, since ferrets are in the same family as weasels and skunks, they are (naturally) voracious and ruthless, and will gnaw their way through one of those plastic cat/dog carriers. /snicker
Well, so what was I to ship the poor creatures in then? I looked online, and nobody sells or even manufactures cages appropriate for shipping ferrets. The airline sent us specs, though, and luckily my Dad is a truly wonderful Handy Man, and he built the wee buggers an appropriate cage.
The thing had to be built of wood and had to be completely lined with chicken wire. It had to be waterproof (that liquid rubberizer stuff that I got at the hardware store for my jewellery pliers came in handy), had to have airholes, fastened food and water dishes, etc. To top it off, the cage needed to have not one, but TWO locks, so that the ferrets had no chance of escape!!
If anybody else out there is looking for info on how to ship your ferrets (within Canada, anyhow), I'd be happy to help you out.
Besides having to build the cage, the ferrets needed to be dropped off at the cargo depot four hours before my own flight. They flew on the same plane as me under the designation of Live Cargo (their cabin is pressurized and cozy I'm told). When I arrived in Fredericton and went to pick up my Parcel of Joy, their water was all spilt out of the dish, but they were ok. It was only a 2 hour flight. Next time I would definitely use a water bottle, and not a dish.
I got a rental car, brought the ferrets home, released them to wreak havoc in the house and chase the cats, while I went and picked up a second hand Ferret Nation cage, took it apart, stuffed it in the car, brought it back, and assembled it. Anybody who's put together a Ferret Nation before knows what a difficult task this can be... I'm now an expert.
Needless to say it was a long, hard day, and it wasn't even over for me. That was just the ferret's role. They're happy to be back in Fredericton!
