> My question, will Rex ever accept Keesha?  Will he ever stop the "lunge and
> kill" behavior?  Is that what it is, anyway???
 
Vicki:
 
   We have two ferrets that act EXACTLY this way with our "Gang of 5";
both ferrets were raised entirely away from other ferrets and (we believe)
don't know the 'languague' to get along with the others.
 
   Slinky is around 5 years old, and she will behave exactly in the manner
you describe Rex.  If she sees one of the other ferrets she gets very trembly
and her eyes slant in pure hatred; if she gets the chance, she will jump
them, going for a killer-bite that's virtually impossible to break.
Naturally the "Gang of 5" (the group of 5 ferrets that do get along) hate her
guts now too, so we've given up any hope of ever integrating her with them.
 
   Ripple is a male we found a couple of summers ago, and he also seems
to hate the other ferrets (and Slinky).  In his case, he won't try to pull
a deathgrip on their throat a much as he'll nip and bite their ears.
Again, he's very nasty about it; it's virtually impossible to get his jaws
opened up if he manages to tag somebody.
 
   We've pretty much just had to resign ourselves to having three
groups of weasels.....
 
Steve and Colleen
[Posted in FML issue 1182]