As others have stated, ferrets may not have the same range of emotions
as humans, but I have witnessed the following in my ferrets:

1. Grief and compassion. Li'l Girl, who joined my first ferret 5 year
old Sammie as a kit had known no other ferrets since her purchase until
6 months later when I added Smokey to the business. Approximately a
month later Sammie died. For 3 weeks, exactly 21 days, Li' Girl did
nothing but come out of the cage and flat ferret throughout playtime.
And Smokey just lay on the floor beside her with his head up against
hers. On day 22, Smokey nudged her, grabbed her by the ear and dragged,
cajoled and pushed her, insisting that she play. He never let up until
she did and after that, she was her old self. I lost Smokey in Oct.
1999 and Li'l Girl in Feb. 2000.

3. Frustration. When I confine them to a room or cage, most of my
ferrets will accept it because they have plenty of free roam time.
However, Odie will come up to the barricade and poop right in front
of the baricade, be it the cage door or the plexiglass barricade.

4. Irritation or anger or . . . see #3! Shadow would just get put out
anytime he had to share his human with another. He was my Honey Boy
and I could carry him in my arm all day. This boy hated to share. When
another one died, he would seem to say, "oh, goody, more time with
mommy for me!" My only regret is that Shadow did not live long enough
to become an only ferret (he did last year at 7.5 - 8 years).

5. Sadness.

6. Joy, happiness or pleasure. Whad'ya think that happy dance is for?
They do it when they escape, when they put something over on the humans
and when they see a ferret they haven't seen in a while (anywhere from
a day to several months).

Anyway, that's a start. And, though it is not emotion, they also show
extraordinary intelligence and are easily trained. Researchers like
to use them because they are easy to train. Recently I spoke with a
researcher who uses ferrets. His next goal is to be able to use them
as they free roam, without any restraints. That would be great.

-- 
renee :)
It's amazing how much can be accomplished if nobody cares who gets the
credit!
Ferret Emergency Response, Rescue & Evacuation Team (F.E.R.R.E.T.)
http://www.ferretemergency.org
[log in to unmask]
International Ferret Congress
http://www.ferretcongress.org
American Red Cross
http://www.redcross.org

[Posted in FML 5509]