One of our ferrets, Chitterbox (who has since gone to wait at the Rainbow
Bridge), used to go crazy when we would squeak his rubber squeaky ball.
He would come tearing out from wherever he was and attack it.  If you
held it up out of reach, he would repeatedly jump straight up and let
himself flop back down, or try to climb your arm to get it.  He would
get so excited that he would occasionally bite your hand if it got in
the way (accidentally).
 
I'm pretty sure that, in his case, it was an attack instinct.  As soon as
he would get the ball, he would start biting it.  He was the only one of
our ferrets who ever figured out how to bite it in just the right way to
make it squeak.  He would squeak it, then shake it like he was trying to
break its neck, and continue this for at least five minutes, at which
point he would "alligator roll" it across the bed, then start the whole
thing all over.
 
BTW, he finally did manage to kill the thing.  He put so many holes in it
that it wouldn't squeak anymore!
 
Bright Blessings,
Becky
with Pixie, Kodi-Bear, Twizzler, and Yozum (that's
Yah-zum!)
Missing Cinnamon, Coke, and Chitterbox
[Posted in FML issue 4381]