Wyatt and Isabel were snuggling in bed. After
Project Runway and
A Daily Show, there had been heaving bosoms and longing loins, and now they were resting in the afterglow. The window was partially open to let the winter air cool the steamy room.
There was a rustling in the corner. They both raised their heads from the pillows to see what it was, just in time to spot a small animal scurrying across the room and sneaking out the window.
". . . was that a black-footed ferret?" Isabel said.
"I think so," Wyatt said. "Did you know they are so named because of their dark legs?"
"They are so small, surely weighing only about two pounds and measuring two feet from tip to tail," Isabel agreed. "I read about them in one of my father's books. I discovered they are related to minks and otters. It is said their closest relations are European ferrets and Siberian polecats. Researchers theorize that polecats crossed the land bridge that once linked Siberia and Alaska, to establish the New World population."
"What I have observed of them, myself, is that these tiny animals breed in early spring when the males roam the night in search of females," Wyatt said. "Mothers typically give birth to three kits in early summer and raise their young alone in abandoned prairie dog burrows."
"I read that ferrets stalk and kill prairie dogs during the night. Using their keen sense of smell and whiskers to guide them through pitch-black burrows, ferrets suffocate the sleeping prey, an impressive feat considering the two species are about the same weight," Isabel added with a shiver.
Wyatt TK'd the window closed and drew Isabel closer. "In turn," he said, "coyotes, badgers, and owls prey on ferrets, whose life span in the wild is often less than two winters. They have a short, quick life."
Isabel nodded in agreement, then as swiftly as they came, all thoughts of ferrets left them, and they drifted off to sleep.
[ooc: blame
izzyalienqueen.]