On an all-night shift, volunteers drive around pre-chosen routes through Aubrey Valley with spotlights. Its actually quite easy to spot a ferret as they are so incredibly curious they usually approach you! You can often walk to within just a few feet of the ferret as it checks out the big UFO-like light approaching it. Once you arrive at the burrow of a hiding ferret, you set a trap and plug up the other escape routes near by using Big Gulp cups! Every hour, you check back to see if you've caught one of these cuties!
	If you do catch one, you drive it to the Arizona Fish & Game people to be "processed". They check basic things like heart-rate, breathing, temperature and if it's a "new" animal, it is given a vaccine for canine distemper plus penicillin and an RFID chip is implanted for future ID. If it is a new animal (hasn't been caught before), you also get to name it! I couldn't help but feel bad for this adorable little girl while she was getting treated but it's for her own good.
	Terrified and sore but unknowingly much better off than before all the trauma, they are then taken back to the wild. Each ferret is released in exactly the same spot as it was captured using GPS coordinates. A small bit of prarie dog meat is left at the hole as a payment for their grief. You really feel like you helped such a rare and adorable animal! It's very fun work!