About caged ferrets...I've been talking with a shelter owner who recently
got a pair of ferrets (adult males) that came from an unusual environment.
Apparently, there were several dozen ferrets and they weren't caged.
Something striking about their behavior is that they are extremely vocal,
and also more physically demonstrative--more bottle brush tail, more
hissing--than 'normal' ferrets.  (But they are not biters.  I believe
they're very, very active--lots of climbing and leaping).
 
You said that bored ferrets are subdued in their responses (as well as
more neurotic).  I'm wondering whether these little guys are actually more
'real' ferrets, and what we see in a normal, caged ferret is actually a
somewhat subdued response.
[Posted in FML issue 2612]