Jack is Smart

Yup.
Sorry, Jack. I didn't know. I feel, in this circumstance, that I am indeed the fool.

For the longest time, I always thought of Jack as my "dumb jock." He's big and didn't seem to be terribly on the ball.

After all, how do you compare to your cage-mates, one of which is a dangerous female with an insane memory and the other is a crazy obstacle climber and dexterous little fighter?

Poor Jack. He's just a happy guy who doesn't hold grudges. And maybe climbing the bed was really hard at first, but he eventually got there, didn't he? And you know, Rudyard is deaf and doesn't really know when to quit--that doesn't mean Jack is bad at fighting. Maybe he just doesn't care. And when he climbs the top of the cage and frantically runs from side to side to see if there is an escape route, he's not being dumb (even though he tries this all the time with the same effect). He's gauging distances and collecting attention. Jack knows what happens when you collect attention.

So here's my epiphany for you:
On a previous post, I let you know how bewildered I was that Jack had somehow escaped the clutches of his cage. I have since then learned that Jack knows how to use his strength and bigness and thick head to his advantage. I don't mean thick head as in thick-headedness either! Not anymore! I meant that he has a very sturdy skull and pretty sturdy bones.

You see, Jack lifted the cage up with his head.

Let me explain: when a ferret has their triangle nose in something, it is only a matter of time before they open the thing. Their nose is like a bottle opener. It works the same way.

Their cage is waist-high with a "gate" surrounding it. This gate is hooked together with three hooks. One side of the gate has hooks, the other side and loops that go over the hooks.

Jack LIFTED the loops off the hooks, therefore lifting one of the gates themselves.

He didn't have to lift all the loops off the hooks, just the bottom ones. Once those were undone, he was able to walk on out with as much pleasure as a child with ice cream.

And it was easy for him, because he's a big strong guy with big strong bones.

When I picked him up after finding him toddling about the house, I noticed the unhooked latches. In case it was just a happy accident, I sat and watched him. Impatient to come out again and play, he immediately set to work. He knew exactly what he was doing.

It seems I had miscalculated the smarts of my baby boy.

This reminds me of when I was in elementary school and I was told that because I was not good at math, I was clearly not smart enough to go to Spectrum classes (these were the gifted classes, which I did eventually get to go to, but that was probably because they didn't have gifted classes for writers or artists. Just math-heads).

Anywho. Just wanted to let you know.