>From:    Kim VanderLaan <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Ferret Math, Dominance and Oil...
>In ferret society, I know there is an alpha.  But is there a beta, etc?
 
There certainly is in our house!  I've never heard this discussed in any
scientific way before but I've observed it among my four ferrets,
especially as each new one was introducted.
 
Kili is once again my heaviest ferret since recovering most of the weight
he lost during their recent illness.  But even when he was down to 2.4 lbs
(ranking him third in the weight class) he could still wrestle his brother
and two sisters like it was WWF.
 
Since he is undoubtedly the dominant ferret (and tiny Bumblebee is
perfectly content at the bottom of the pile) the most intense dominance
battles occured between Brickbat and Seymore.  They were fighting for the
number two spot behind Kili.
 
The first couple of weeks after we adopted Bricky I kept having to put
Seymore in the cage for time-outs because he was so intent on beating her
up.  Even though Bricky now out-weighs him, Seymore has had many more
opportunities to learn Kili's wrestling moves so he's retained his number
two position.
 
It's funny to watch them all try to imitate Kili's patented maneuvers!  My
boyfriend was on the wrestling team in high school and even he is amazed
by the way Kili uses his weight and his center of balance to pin his
opponents.
 
-mel
[Posted in FML issue 2520]