Hi, All,
 
ERIC SCHECK:  Try a ferret rescue.  You'll probably get a much better price,
and save a fuzzy (or 2? or 3?) that needs a home.   At Christmas, I adopted
Charlotte and Gizmo--year old sables--from the Central Pennsylvania Ferret
Rescue.  It cost $80 for both of them and they're just great.
 
LICKING & BITING: My guys do this too.  It's as if they decide to take just
a little taste (like I do with chocolate) so they start with licking, and
then lose control & decide a bite or two couldn't hurt.  (Except it DOES
hurt me!!) I've wondered if it isn't the salt on the skin that tastes good
in the first place.
 
WHO'S THE BOSS: There's been some discussion of introducing new ferrets into
an existing posse, and several posters have stated or implied that the
established ferret is likely to assert dominance over the new kid in
her/his/its territory.  This makes sense, but, just to prove that reality in
general and ferrets in particular are perverse, our new tiny 1lb.  Charlotte
has beaten up, screamed at, pounced on, and chased unmercifully our poor
already-family ferrets.  She's gone after Momo (4lb) especially; I wonder if
it's because she recognizes him as the big guy & therefore the one to beat.
Fortunately, after 3 weeks, she seems to think she's convinced the guys that
she is, in fact, queen of the world, and they've all settled down together
in relative harmony.
 
THE BATHING BEAUTY: When I nominate Momo for "Worlds Cutest and Most
Endearing Ferret," I'll have to include a description of him at his
toilette.  (He's a good candidate anyway, with his beautiful "bulldog" face,
great muscular development, and a temperment that has earned him the
nickname Sugar Weasel.) The other 3 do, more or less, what most ferrets do
when faced with soap and running water.  ("Oh, no!!!!  Not that wet stuff
again!  Save me, Mama, save me!!  --- wigglewigglesquirmstruggletwist.) But
not Momo.  We put him in shallow warm water in the bathroom sink; he flops
down on his back, closes his eyes & enjoys the massage.  (Ooooh, ohhhhhh --
a little more to the left, Ma.  That's it!  Now don't stop.) I swear he
smiles.
[Posted in FML issue 1444]