One 'word' that a ferret will 'use' when communicating with you is that
of submission. Some examples are: RePete was in the front yard with me
and I had let her play loose. She was in the shrubs in the front of the
house where I was working. In a little bit I went looking for him and
Whammo! He was gone! Not a trace! He had figured out how much attention
was paying to him and he took a loose moment and just escaped to where
ever. I spent the next few hours searching for him with not a clue of
where he had gone. I even recruited a couple neighbors to help me
'ferret' him out to no avail. I had about given up when a kid spotted
him sneaking out of the neighbors bushes exactly where I had searched
20 times before. He was hugging the fence making for the woods next to
that house. I walked over to where he was, he ran under a car to 'hide'
from me. But I was waiting on the other side when he came out..
Spotting me he immediately went into total submission by laying on his
side and then his back waiting for whatever I was going to do. I picked
him up being very glad to have him back but he was thinking I was going
to double dip him in that tar bucket and was shaking like a leaf. I
just held him and talked to him so to calm him down and that worked.

Just now I let Pester out of the cage to roam on the back porch. He
came right over to me, I reached down to him and he laid on his side,
when I touched his head he rolled over to his back allowing me to
gently scratch his chest and neck. He was in total submission telling
me I was boss and he was just letting me do whatever I wanted to do to
him, just like RePete did. Seems to work!

So when a ferret lays on its side when you reach out to them it is
telling you they are in total submission to you and you are the boss.
Just don't abuse that privilege ever and that animal will begin to tell
you other things. But remember, they speak only in ferret language!

Gordon and Pest R. Doodle
 
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[Posted in FML 7056]