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I'm pleased to announce that the ferret community again has the
opportunity to name the kits on the Smithsonian National Zoo's black-
footed ferret web cam!
http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/NorthAmerica/default.cfm?cam=BFF

The 6 kits (3 males, 3 females) born to Cyan and Ledo on June 20,
2009, need names, and Dr. JoGayle Howard, Reproductive Specialist for
the Smithsonian, has agreed to allow us to name them after shades of
blue in return for a suitable donation!

Possible names are:
Teal
Aqua
Baby
Powder
Sky
Navy
Marine
Sapphire
Denim
Indigo
Azure
Cobalt
Turquoise

You can vote with your donation! Put all your money on one name, or
spread it around for your top 6 names. Or just donate with no
particular favorite. The top 6 vote getters will become the names for
Cyan's kits!

Four randomly selected donors will win prizes: a 20" stuffed black-footed
ferret and 3 8x10 color BFF photos.

To make a tax deductible donation, please send a check made out to
"Smithsonian Institution" with "black-footed ferret program" in the
notes field and send to me at: Linda Iroff, 46180 Butternut Ridge
Road, Oberlin OH 44074. Make sure to include a note with how much of
your donation you want to go to each name!

If you want to make a donation via Paypal, please send to
linda.iroff@oberlin.edu

Again, please note which name(s) you want to vote for. These amounts will NOT
be tax deductible as I am not a 501c3 charity! I will make an accounting
of all funds sent to my paypal account available on request (with names
redacted) at the end of the donation period, and the total amount will be
sent to the Smithsonian along with any checks.

To sweeten the deal, JoGayle will provide three 8x10 color glossy
photos of adorable black-footed ferret kits, adults or families as
preferred. Three names will be drawn at random from all donors to
receive the photos.

The deadline for me to RECEIVE payment is Saturday, September 26. The following weekend
I will be volunteering at the Autumn Conservation Festival at the Smithsonian National Zoo's
Conservation and Research Center, and I will present the checks to JoGayle then.
http://nationalzoo.si.edu/ActivitiesAndEvents/Celebrations/ACF/default.cfm

The kits will be leaving the Zoo around the middle of October for
distribution to other black-footed ferret recovery programs or to be
released in the wild. It will be a few weeks yet before distribution
lists are determined.

Linda

*Cross posting in entirety permitted and encouraged!*