OK, what is it with the war dance?  Does it have any real significance,
or is it just an example of how far ferrets are from their wild past?
When I play with my Belka she bounces backward and waves her head from
side to side, pretty much oblivious to what I'm doing.  It's a bit like
swinging one's fists with one's eyes closed and hoping to hit
something --- though I don't think she's really serious about this now
that we've established our relative positions on the food chain :-).
 
I mean, I understand how a ferret can do this if it's happy (like about
getting in my bed and rearranging everything on it!), but war-dancing
seems like a pretty impractical way to fight.  Perhaps it is more
effective in some specific situation, like inside a mouse-burrow?
 
Sergej Roytman
 
[Posted in FML issue 0582]