Spotlight on volunteer: Crystal

Crystal Hughes is Officer of Public Outreach. She organizes adoptions day, which helps ferrets find homes with responsible owners. She's been with the Inn for three years and has recently adopted a ferret, Nina.

You organize events, such as adoption days. What does a regular adoption day consist of? Ferrets are still pretty uncommon to a lot of people. We get a lot of questions like "How long does a ferret live? What do they eat? Are they litter box trained? Don't they bite?" Kids love to hold the ferrets and watch them run through the tubes. We usually have a crowd at adoption events!



Why did you decide to volunteer at a ferret shelter? I've always loved ferrets and wanted to help educate the public about them and find forever homes for them.

What's the most satisfying aspect of volunteering? Knowing that I'm helping to give a ferret a chance at a happy life.

What is it about ferrets that you love? They're silly and playful and mischievous. How can you not crack up when a ferret does the weasel war dance? Or steals objects five times their size? Each ferret has their own personality and "quirks". Ferrets really know how to make the most of life.

How did you get into owning ferrets in the first place? An old friend of mine adopted a couple of ferrets from a shelter. They were so much fun that I decided to adopt two myself. That quickly went from two ferrets to six ferrets!

You recently adopted Nina from the shelter. How did you come to adopt her? Nina came from a pretty bad situation. She was living on a diet of bologna, Cheerios, and dried banana crisps -- that is, when the owner remembered to feed her. Her water bottle was empty and her litter box was overflowing. When Nancy got her, she was dehydrated and wouldn't eat gruel or kibble on her own. I agreed to foster her to make sure she was eating enough and so that she wouldn't have to deal with the stress of the shelter. It wasn't long before I fell in love and adopted her.

What is the most important thing that people who want to adopt should know about ferrets? Ferrets aren't cage animals like gerbils and hamsters. They need mental stimulation and interaction with their humans on a daily basis.