We've noticed and mentioned the right sided thing in our ferrets, having thought that it was learned from Ashling who was our dominant one and very, very markedly had a right side tail. Now we have to wonder if there might be more to it so it would be interesting to see this studied in ferrets, too: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/24/science/24wag.html?_r=1&oref=slogin [Moderator's note: login required. BIG] NY Times article by Sandra Blakeslee worked from a dog study and here are a few bits and pieces to intrigue you into reading more: >there is another, newly discovered, feature of dog body language that >may surprise attentive pet owners and experts in canine behavior. When >dogs feel fundamentally positive about something or someone, their >tails wag more to the right side of their rumps. When they have >negative feelings, their tail wagging is biased to the left ... > >A study describing the phenomenon, "Asymmetric tail-wagging responses >by dogs to different emotive stimuli," appeared in the March 20 issue >of Current Biology. The authors are Giorgio Vallortigara, a >neuroscientist at the University of Trieste in Italy, and two >veterinarians, Angelo Quaranta and Marcello Siniscalchi, at the >University of Bari, also in Italy. ... > >Richard J. Davidson, director of the Laboratory for Affective >Neuroscience at the University of Wisconsin in Madison [said that] ... >fits with a large body of research showing emotional asymmetry in the >brain... ... > >in most animals ... the left brain specializes in behaviors involving >what the scientists call approach and energy enrichment... associated >with positive feelings, like love, a sense of attachment, a feeling of >safety and calm. It is also associated with physiological markers, >like a slow heart rate. [Remember the cross-over that has the R brain controlling the post- cranial (beyond head) left side, and the L brain controlling the post- cranial right side.] ... >...the right brain specializes in behaviors involving withdrawal and >energy expenditure... behaviors, like fleeing... associated with >feelings like fear and depression. Physiological signals include a >rapid heart rate and the shutdown of the digestive system. Sukie (not a vet) Current FHL address: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth Recommended ferret health links: http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/ http://ferrethealth.org/archive/ http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.html http://www.miamiferret.org/fhc/ http://www.ferretcongress.org/ http://www.trifl.org/index.shtml http://homepage.mac.com/sukie/sukiesferretlinks.html [Posted in FML 5589]