I love your ideas, Limejello... we already basically do that around here.
The conversation usually goes something like this:
 
BANG!
"Which ferret did that?"
"A brown one."
"Did you see WHICH brown one?"
"No, but she might have been grayish, the light was bad."
CRASH!
"What about that one?"
"Definitely gray."
"Is Gibs asleep?"
"Yep."
"Okay.  Winter--get over here, you little rat!"
 
While our boy-ferrets have pretty coat colors that are quite distinctive
(one white and very light brown, no splotches--just added a dark gray with
splotchy feet, and of course there's Molly, who's just brown, but usually
asleep), most of our girls are either brown or gray, no splotches.  Only
one dark brown, and both of the gray ones are sort of half gray and half
brown.  And, of course, it's the girls who get into everything and make the
biggest messes--so the answer to the "Who did that?" question is almost
always "someone brown."
 
We used to try to categorize them by someone-or-other's show standards, but
the only one that really fits any is Simon.  He's white with black eyes.
Pretty unmistakeable.  Tess is too red to be a chocolate, I think.  Amadeo
is kind of creamy and pretty and stuff, but not a cinnamon or champagne,
or, rather, one or the other.  We don't know which.  The two gray girls
(twins two years apart in age) are kind of sort of sable-points or Siamese
or something in wintertime, and grayish brown in summer.  At least half the
time, the shelter kids we take in are well-nigh identical to someone who
already lives here, which is really all part of a ferret plot to make sure
that at least one of them doesn't get locked up at night... I swear they
share the raisins...
 
Jen and the Crazy Business
[Posted in FML issue 2784]