Dear Ferret Folks-
 
Lick, lick, chomp!  is simply explained.  It's all about suspense.  The
little buggers want you to *know* what's coming.  They're like the late,
great film director Alfred Hitchcock who specialized in slowly ramping up
the element of suspense in his thrillers until you find yourself yelling
at the TV "NO!  Don't open the cellar door!  For god's sake, turn
around!!" because you *know* what's behind it.
 
The lick , lick merely signals criminal intent.  It's much more effective
than simply stapling you without warning.  You feel that little tounge
and you get a full cardio workout whether or not the teeth ever manifest.
Either way, the ferret gets what he wants.  You flail about, maybe do
your "Oh God I'm scared" dance for him.
 
The ferret term that I wish we still used was an oldie on the first
ferret lists that preceeded today's FML--Snearch.  It meant combined
sneak and search mode.  For some reason, snearch fell out of use but
I think it perfectly describes a lot of ferret behavior.
 
Alexandra in MA
[Posted in FML issue 5306]