I loved these posts! Just the other night, I was telling Jim about how Marley loves to be rubbed when I wake him up in the morning. Jim did not pay close attention to what I was telling him so when we got back from snowboarding yesterday, Jim went to the cage to wake Marley up to let him play and Marley would not come out until he was properly rubbed. Jim panicked and thought he was sick, so I told him to scratch Marley between the shoulders. He could not believe the reaction! I laughed and laughed. Every morning, when I get up to let them out, there lays Marley just waiting to be scritched between the shoulders (and he loves it on his head). Five minutes of this (our morning ritual) and he is ready to come out and play. It is just like me with coffee - I am dead until I have it. For awhile, I thought he had some kind of skin problem, but now that I see other ferrets doing the same thing, I am not going to worry. He simply loves the treatment. None of my others like any such thing. Cleo occasionally lets me rub her chin (like a cat) but that is it. Marley will NOT MOVE until I do this to him. He does hunch his back and licks my arm while I am scritching him. This is a very special thing to me and I hope it never changes. Dooks! [Posted in FML issue 2971]