Before I launch into yet another post about Scooter (Hey Rocky, watch me pull an FML post out of my hat! Again! Bullwinkle!), I will say in advance that I know I'm probably just being a nervous (read: neurotic) first-time ferret parent and I realize none of my fears are likely to be true. That said, I will commence worrying about how I may have pyschologically scarred my little buddy for life. I took Scooter to the home of the breeder I bought him from for some exposure to other ferrets, the first time he's seen any since I brought him home. When we had him an any of three other males on leashes, there was a good deal of chuckling (he never does that at home) and wrestling, and eventually the others finally decided he plays too rough. He finally started to get along with one called Kinky (weirdest animal I've ever seen--no tail, very yellow coloring, hops like a rabbit instead of walking). then when we put him and Kinky in a room together off the leash, Kinky kicked his little ferret butt from here to next week. No blood, but a lot of squealing and a very frightened Scooter who ran and hid when Kinky released his grip on Scooter's back. I'm not worried about this incident (at any rate, he reestablished his manhood by coming home and peeing on the couch), but about how he acts so differently from the ferrets at Sue's house. I finally saw the Weasel War Dance--Scooter doesn't do it. Ever. He bounces around in place occasionally, but never bounces around the room like that. The other ferrets seemed much less serious and more playful than Scooter is, too. And he doesn't make any noises at all. The chuckling he did when bullying Sue's fuzzies was the most noise I've ever heard him make. He only vocalizes when I accidentally step on a paw. I know ferrets are highly varied in their behavior, but does Scooter sound normal? I had a hard time learning to be patient with him, and he often got yelled at when he didn't deserve it. I feel awful already about that, but it would be worse if I thought maybe I'd managed to interfere with his development. He also gets lots of love (more than he sometimes wants to put up with), so I know I'm probably just being silly, but I worry anyway. Any thoughts? Chris and Scooter Bellingham, WA I am Ferret of Borg Bitter Apple is Irrelevant Litterboxes are Irrelevant Your Socks will be Assimilated [Posted in FML issue 0868]