Beauty is indeed in the eye of the beholder...
 
I am not one to go for the "pretty" ferrets.  I love them all - from what
is considered the homeliest, to the most picture perfect specimen.  They
are all beautiful in my eyes.  Every single one.
 
But I wanted to add that you don't always end up with what you thought you
were getting...
 
Many of my crew over the years have totally changed their "looks" and it
had little to do with their stylist, or their beautician.  Take Bear for
example.  She was a regular sable when I got her but she took on a much
darker coat, as well as longer hair, one season, about 2 years ago.  Then
she went "blue".
 
And then there is Mushu, who was very similar in markings to her sister
Ping who was a Panda Mitt.  Now Mushu is almost entirely white except for
a hint of black on the end of her tail, and across her shoulders.  She
also carries a couple of grey spots, off-centre where her blaze use to be.
 
And then there is Chook, who is also very creamed coloured in his overall
body colouring but gets this "dirty" coat look in summer.  When I got him,
he was a typical Silver Mitt.  Only his feet and head had white in them.
I found my old baby pictures of him and luckily a mother can recognize her
own! ;-)  I was amazed at the difference!
 
I know some of this can be attributed to diet, and some of it roaning, but
some of it is just a wonder to me.  It's akin to living with the prizes in
a Cracker Jack Box... you just never know what you're going to get!  And
there are definitely no guarantees!
 
And as for the tail wagging, ferrets that are excited will do this
wherever they are - not just inside a tube.  Thalia does it when she gets
chased, and Mushu does it when she is doing the chasing and her prey has
gone where she can't.  Mushu also does this when you give her something
really, REALLY interesting and she doesn't know what to make of it.
 
Most of the time I would say that ferrets wag their tails because they are
excited... but sometimes they do it out of trepidation... not knowing what
will happen next.  It could be argued that this is just another form of
excitement and it is.  In any case, it brings coos of joy and tears to my
eyes when I see, as I find it just too darn cute.  The other thing that
has me cooing and ah- ing is doing the "wash-out" - front paws are pulled
from behind the head and then brought forward down the face.... there is
nothing cuter!  My hubby has found the secret to making them do the
"wash-out" everytime... So far it has worked on 5 of our 12 ferrets.
Wanna know the secret?  I just may have to sell this secret in the form
of donations to our shelter....
 
Betty and Her Blur O'Fur Missing our little Bear
For the Love of Ferrets...
[Posted in FML issue 3110]