I'm standing late Thursday evening at the intersection of Queens Quay and Lower Simcoe Street, waiting for a Spadina streetcar to take me towards Queen St.

Suddenly, a rodent-like creature zooms off the sidewalk and into the intersection.

"Is that a rat?" someone asked.

"Nope, it's a ferret," I said.

The ferret looked dazed and confused. It darted here and there, back and forth -- and came perilously close to meeting its end underneath an eastbound streetcar. If not for the quick reflexes and instinct to preserve life of a few cabdrivers, it could have died under their wheels too.

People gasped with each near miss and applauded in relief when the ferret finally spotted a break in the crowd and made a mad dash for safety on the south sidewalk.