Condolences to those with sick, missing or angeled sneaky snouts...
 
Ferret Bonding, huh?
 
Well, I have 9 ferrets.  Two of them have their own playtimes and places
to sleep (Taz has a bedroom to himself and Chewy has a 4-story cage to
himself).  They are both quite happy to play with the cat (more like,
TERRORIZE the cat!) and they like it when I get down on the floor to play
with them.  Chewy has finally gotten to the point where he will sit on the
couch and eat out of my hand, rather than running off with his "prize" like
he used to! :)  Taz will sit on my shoulder and eat snacks, too.
 
However, the other 7 seem to have rather strange ties to each other.
 
Add-A-Kiss bonds with Fuzzer, Ziggy, Hershey and Smokey.  She picks fights
(which she almost *always* loses now!) with Rusti and Stuffy will harrass
*her* whenever the mood strikes him.
 
Fuzzer bonds with Add-A-Kiss, Ziggy, Smokey and Stuffy.  He beats up on
Hershey and pretty much ignores Rusti.
 
Ziggy bonds with Add-A-Kiss, Fuzzer, Smokey and Rusti, but gets picked on
by Stuffy and likes to "spaz out" on Hershey (Hershey barks when he spazs
out, which makes me wonder if Ziggy is scaring him! :)).
 
Rusti bonds with Ziggy, Smokey, Hershey and Stuffy.  She holds her own
with Add-A-Kiss and avoids Fuzzer.
 
Hershey is the Zeta male (bottom of the list!).  He can get along with
Stuffy, Smokey and Rusti.  Though he will let Add-A-Kiss sleep with him,
they don't play together.  Fuzzer likes to toss him around from time to
time, though he gets his own licks in before running off and Ziggy seems
to frighten him when he goes into Insane Weasel War Dance mode.  He runs
and hides during these times.
 
Smokey (a.k.a.  Grizzly Bear!), bonds with Stuffy (his "bro"), Rusti and
Add-A-Kiss.  He will tolerate Hershey, but will play "Toss The Ferret" with
him every once in a while.  He usually gets Stuffy to play along with him.
He also gets along with Ziggy, but tends to get cross-eyed when Ziggy gets
on the dance floor.  He appears to get along well with Fuzzer, but Fuzzer
will smack him around if he seems to get a larger pair of britches than
Fuzzer approves of.  Though he out-weighs Fuzzer by about a 1/2 pound,
Fuzzer is more muscular...*and* Fuzzer is the Alpha!
 
Stuffy bonds with Smokey and Rusti.  He tolerates Hershey, but will play
"Toss The Ferret" with Smokey when asked.  He also gets along well with
Fuzzer, but picks on Add-A-Kiss and Ziggy (to the point where I have to
go rescue Ziggy).
 
Now, there are times when *all* of my ferrets get along just fine!  Of
course, this is also a time known as SNACK TIME!  I can also pick them all
up and drape them over my arms and walk around and they will all just hang
there, looking like a bunch of stuffed socks!  Once put down, though, they
"do their thing" according to where each is put down.
 
Now...can anyone analyze *those* relationships? :)
 
Todd and the Fuzzbutt Rodeo Clowns!
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[Posted in FML issue 3287]