Q: "Why do my ferrets have a fetish about the corners of my lips? They are always trying to sniff them." A: Is that worse compared to where a dog likes to sniff? Special glands that secrete a waxy, oily substance, designed to protect and lubricate the skin covering the lips, surround the human mouth (lip epithelium lacks oil glands). These are concentrated at the corners of the mouth. When the ferret is homing in on the corners of your mouth, they are probably just trying to get a whiff of your glands, which they CAN smell. Either that, or they are trying to steal a bite of that burrito you are chewing. Q: "Does breeding a ferret to a polecat give them a darker coat?" A: Only if the Jill is a costly date. Initially, yes, but only at the cost of the traits of domestication that in the ferret are mostly behavioral. Domestication delays the migration of melanocytes within the developing embryo, and not as many migrate, ultimately causing a dilution effect in the color of the coat. Sable ferrets, even those labeled 'black sables', are always lighter (browner) in color than pure polecats (so dark some have a purplish sheen). The difference isn't so much a change in genetics of the coat color as much as it is 'fewer' melanocytes per unit area. By hybridizing a ferret to a polecat, you get a darker coat color, but that is because you have reduced the overall degree of domestication, reducing the dilution effect. I own a 1/4 polecat, and I can tell you the difference is amazing! Tui comes to the sound of my voice and likes nothing better than to sleep on me, is NOT reliable around anyone's chin, lips or nose. If you scruff him, he WILL bite you to the bone, guaranteed. He is more skittish, jumps higher, moves faster, sees things better, and bites harder than ANY other ferret I have experienced. He hates eating with ANY other ferret, and hides at any sudden sound. Tui is not a ferret that should be owned by anyone other than an experienced ferret owner able to accept the occasional nip now and then. Occasional? Still, I adore the big creep even though he once crawled inside my shirt and "nipped" me. There are lots of domesticated species that are darker than the progenitor (black labs come to mind), but those melanistic animals have been inbred for coat color traits, NOT bred back to wolves. In these cases, the traits of domestication are generally preserved, while the genetics of coat color are being manipulated. Hybridization of ferrets to polecats to improve color is, sadly, not only self-defeating in that the offspring are unreliable as pets. It is also only of a short term gain in that, as the offspring are bred back to domesticated ferrets, the dilution effect takes place and you end up with what you were trying to improve, diluted coat color. I don't recommend it. Bob C [Posted in FML issue 4141]