John,
 
I just thought of something else.  You may have read about
this in some of the back issues.  Some ferrets have a "thing"
about tube-like objects (that remind them of a ferret shape?),
such as arms and legs.  For instance, Molly & Charlie both do
this occasionally (less so  than when they were younger) --
when we  hold one of them in our arms, so they are lying
in the crook of an arm, with their head on the elbow, they
will sometimes start licking & then suddenly -- *chomp*.
They are normally *very* affectionate & otherwise do not
bite.  Anyway, anytime they start licking an arm, hand or
leg, we expect a bite to follow & will move the affected
body part out of the way!  :-)  (It's almost like they're
tasting first -- lick, lick, lick, lick, lick, BITE :-))
And no, they've never broken the skin when doing this.
(Bandit has never done this.  Who knows what Pogo will do?)
 
This appears to be fairly normal ferret behavior, as far
as I know.  I realize this doesn't explain everything
Buddy's doing, but thought it might provide some insight.
 
Katie, Jeff, Bandit, Molly, Charlie & Pogo
 
[Posted in FML issue 0277]