Hi all!
My girlfriend and I are the proud parents of a couple of absolutely precious
fuzzbutts.  We have a cinnamon sable (male, almost 2 y/o), and two
"standard" sable ferrets.  One is a female (about 1.5 y/o) and the other is
a male (about 11 weeks old).  The three of them get along WONDERFULLY, but
the other night, when we were putting them to bed, we noticed that the
youngest male (we named him Socrates "Socks" for short because of his little
white toes) was happily nibbling away on the female's ("Arrie") ears.  This
behavior wasn't malicious, and apparently Arrie didn't mind, because she is
a vocal little girl, and she never chuckled, never hissed, never made a
sound.  Being the neurotic ferret parents that we are, we were slightly
worried about the situation, and so we checked on them periodically.  The
nibbling had absolutely no physical effect on Arrie's ears (except that they
got really wet).  My question is this: has anyone else seen a similar
behavior pattern in their little guys, and if so, what is the nature of the
behavior?  I'm guessing that it could either be dominance, or some sort of
grooming ritual.  Oh...by the way...they're all "fixed".  Please respond via
email, as I don't always have time to read the newsletter.  Thanks in
advance!
 
Dan the two-legger
Nicki : I'm tired...but AREN'T I CUTE???  When you die, you want to come
back as ME!
Arrie : Sure Nicki, you're cute, but I'm the little princess! HAHAHAHAHA
Socks : must cause havoc...must hide wallets...must miss the pottybox...so
many things to do and so little time!
[Posted in FML issue 2124]