Hi, all! I've been lurking for awhile and thought I'd introduce myself. I've been interested in ferrets since this past summer, and it took lots of loaded comments to my fiance before he gave in and said we could have a ferret. So now we have an adorable MF male, sable, named Hodge. He's about 10 weeks old. My questions are: at what age to ferrets settle down enough to let you hold them for more than 3 seconds? Hodge likes us both, and he likes the cats. It's obvious, if I'm more than 3 feet away from him, he'll look for me. But he doesn't want to be held or cuddled or scratched or rubbed or anything. He's too busy playing! Does anyone know when he will calm down a bit? Also, I was just wondering, how do ferrets dook? I mean, what do they do to make that noise? Hodge dooks alot, especially while playing w/ our mentally retarded formerly abused cat (who loves Hodge - thinks Hodge is the greatest plaything). To the person who just lost Vixen: You have my condolences. Your message moved me to tears. I extend a net-hug to you. To Laura L'Heureux re: Marshall Farms: I didn't get around to replying when you posted, but I'd like to say that you said exactly what I was thinking, and I thought your post was very eloquent and praiseworthy. -------CA & DA (the humans), Eudora, semismart cat, Graham, dumb cat, and Hodge the hyperactive ferret [Posted in FML issue 1087]