Here's a question that I'm sure has come up before but I haven't seen it
around HERE in a while:  Have any of you out there with oodles of ferrets
noticed any particular trend in pattern determining behaviour?  I've put
off writing my observations for a few months just so I could get some more
data and this is what I've found (note this is just about as unscientific
as you can get!)
 
- Of the 6 dark sables we've had (we run a halfway house) 5 have immediately
taken to chewing the buttons on our couch.  None of the other approximately
20 ferrets we've had (variety of colors) have shown any interest in them.
The one dark sable that didn't chew the buttons was an elderly gentleman
who was rarely on the sofa.
 
- There seems to be a tendency for clever-naughtiness in the dark-sables
I've been around.  I'm not saying other ferrets are dumb, but by contrast
the DEWs, REWs, and lighter colored ferrets have generally seemed to be a
little less on-the-ball and likely to be followers, not leaders.
 
- Dark sables seem to dook more than other colors/patterns.  This is about
the weakest relationship I've seen since we DO have a few mitts (one young
boy, one 3 yr girl) who have been known to dook on occasion.
 
- Mitted ferrets seem to be crybabies.  When fighting/playing/posturing,
anyone with white feet around here cries like a baby.  The dark/light
sables hardly speak a word (dooking excluded).
 
- Ligher sables (chocolatey) seem to be quiet even when off-the-wall
excited or fighting (panting/hissing excluded).  More often than not it
seems such a ferret is the head of the household.  I have very little data
here and this could be due to the majority of ferrets being sable patterns.
 
- Darker colors seem to be 'busier' than light ferrets.  Most of the
lap-ferrets I've seen are light colored and/or mitts.  The really dark ones
seem to have better things to do than snuggle.
 
These are the dynamics of OUR house for our crew.  They also reflect my
observations of trends based on seeing about 20-25 ferrets move through our
halfway house and talking with friends and observing their lot on occasion.
FWIW, we've also had 2 pandas, 3 blazes, and 3 DEWs come through here and
none (0) were deaf as is commonly suggested.  I saw a statistic SOMEWHERE
that said 9/10 such ferrets are deaf.  Ya can't always believe what ya
observe...:)
 
                                  -Erin...
 
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|  Mr. Erin M. Ennis    |      Any sufficiently convoluted argument can |
| eennis(at)zoo,uvm,edu |      be made to appear to be science as the   |
| Water Resources Major |      layman equates incomprehensibility with  |
|    Biology Minor      |      science.                                 |
|   Uni. of Vermont     |                               - Unknown       |
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[Posted in FML issue 2497]