Heh, heh, heh is actually one of the OLD sounds that is said by many animals. In humans the equivalent sound is laughter. Some people don't seem to have good enough hearing to hear this sound. Then again, some ferrets make it louder than others. There are some old sounds that are found only in mammals, but there are also very ancient sounds that are even found in some reptile and in birds as well as mammals and usually with the same sorts of meanings such as sounds that have purring aspects (comfort and comforting -- just listen to new parents' voices purr as they talk to the baby, or young lovers purring as they talk with each other), ones that growl or hiss of both (and I think you know what those mean), screams and so on. It's been an area of study for quite some time but I have lacked time to read anything about it in years. Even Darwin noted some of these. Sukie (not a vet) Recommended ferret health links: http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/ http://ferrethealth.org/archive/ http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.html http://www.miamiferret.org/ http://www.ferrethealth.msu.edu/ http://www.ferretcongress.org/ http://www.trifl.org/index.shtml http://homepage.mac.com/sukie/sukiesferretlinks.html all ferret topics: http://listserv.ferretmailinglist.org/archives/ferret-search.html "All hail the procrastinators for they shall rule the world tomorrow." (2010, Steve Crandall) [Posted in FML 6973]