Hi,
 
I have been reading this squeaky toy discussion with some interest and
thought that I might add an anecdote.
 
I have three ferrets, Gimlet, Quibble and Millipod.  They have two
squeaky toys.  Mr Chicken and Tiger.  Both toys are the same brand, same
size, etc and were purchased and shown to the ferrets on the same day.
Their behaviour towards the two toys has been vastly different from day
one.
 
Poor Mr Chicken is attacked mercilessly if he so much as dares to make a
peep.  A few squeaks of Mr chicken and they come running -bite him, whack
him on the ground, death roll him around the floor and then gallop away
triumphantly to stash him behind the fridge.  In fact he is the only toy
that can attract Gimlets attention when he is suffering Shower Rage (that
unfortunate condition where a ferret feels an uncontrollable urge to kill
any wet foot that attempt to leave the shower).
 
Tiger, on the other hand is universally loved by all, they stash him
in their bed, carrying him around with the greatest of care and shown
nothing but deep concern if I take him out of bed and squeak him.
 
As an experiment I bought a second tiger and chicken-they still treat the
new tiger better than the chickens.
 
What's most interesting is how they all respond to the toys the same
way.  However, I suspect that there is a bit of ferret politics involved
because Quibble, who is the boss, is the most protective of Tiger this
has some how elevated Tiger's status above that of a mere toy.  I suspect
that the other two might use Tiger for biting practice if he did not have
Quibble's protection.
 
I will leave it up to the ferret experts to ponder why this is the case.
 
Skye, Quibble- Lord and supreme ruler of the house of Squirmth, Millipod-
undisputed sumo champion of the world, and Gimlet-Master foot destroyer.
 
PS.  Millipod regularly drags me around the house by the finger (or
occasionally by the ear or nose) and tries to stash me behind the fridge.
[Posted in FML issue 4383]