>The panting "Heh-heh-heh" done during play?  Appears to be laughter from
>context and sound.  Wouldn't be a surprise if it is, some sounds are very,
>very old and more widely spread than that, also, ferrets do learn from us
>so if it's a primate thing it still could be picked up that way.
 
I think you're absolutely right, Sukie.  I was convinced that the sound
(which I usually call "sniggering") was actually laughter one day when I
had the fuzzies out playing on my bed.  They were running around and
crashing into each other, and at one point Fezzik crashed into Crysin so
hard that he knocked poor Crysin off the bed (not to worry...the bed is
low, so it wasn't a long fall).  When Crysin fell, Fezzik stopped, peered
over the edge of the bed at his handiwork, then started wardancing like
mad and making that "heh-heh" sound.  After seeing that, I had absolutely
no doubts that that particular sound is laughter.
 
Dooks,
Lisa
Mom of Zorro, Claudia, Loki, Fezzik, Crysin, and Kyra Monchichi
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"The sword of time will pierce our skins
It doesn't hurt when it begins
But as it works its way on in
The pain grows stronger - watch it grin"
 --"Theme from M*A*S*H* (Suicide is Painless)", Mike Altman
[Posted in FML issue 3158]