Maya - Unless you have a previously abused animal that might be
traumatized by random handling, I'd say the best way to figure out where
your ferret likes it is gentle trial and error.
 
Lucy likes a good hard scritch on the very top of her head, between her
shoulder blades, and near the base of her tale.  Sometimes she leans into
it so far that she slips away from me, then looks at me like I'm not doing
my job :D.  Ocassionally she'll take a tummy scritch, but it's a mood
thing.  Gabriel likes the shoulders and anywhere on the back scritches,
and sometimes near the ears.  He doesn't like it if we touch his face
much, but he won't lash out at us for it, he's just not fond of it.  When
we had our little Tiki, she loved a good, slow rub around her mouth,
cheeks and ears, which would just send her into ecstasy, and result in
about 10 mins of kisses.
 
Ferret Professions - Once Corey and I learn to draw, we're going to have
a comic strip about our lives, since our lives pretty much read like one
(and our friends say we were born to be anime characters).  Included would
be the dream professions of our little fuzzies, since we're convinced that
they would be secret agents for some secret government agency.
 
Lucy would be the brains of the operation, very Scully-esque, I think.
She's all about analyzing the situation and producing a solution that
won't get her caught until after the fact.  She also has an obsession with
my desk, my computer, my mouse, my papers, my books, anything involving
knowledge.  I imagine her with reading glasses, sitting at a computer
writing her report on how she's going to break into The Ferret Store
computers and trick them into sending her food and treats for free, then
using the wires from the mouse she stole to create an antenna to reach
fellow agents in the field undetected.  (I now have a wireless mouse and
keyboard, which she seems less interested in stealing and more interested
in trying to work.)
 
As Lucy is the brains, Gabe is the brawn.  He's a big, tough, albino boy
with the muscles of Hercules and a heart of gold.  He does have his smart
moments, but otherwise, he's better off as the furniture-moving,
supply-stealing, invader-fighting half of the duo.  He must keep himself
in shape doing military push-ups, sit-ups and pull-ups in the cage, and
endless laps in the ferretrail cage tubing.
 
Fun for all,
Andrea in Somerville, MA w/
Corey, ferret father fantastic
Lucy: "Gabriel, pay attention, and pass me that generator."
Gabe: "Hold on, I need to steal mummy's Boot Camp workout video."
[Posted in FML issue 3837]