Bill Killian raised an interesting aspect that I thought might be worth exploring further. I was responding to Lynn's ? about the possibility of her sable becoming a panda. Bill mentioned that blazes can change to pandas and that his Bodhisattva is an example. (I remember Bodhisattva well because his name has Hindu and Steely Dan ties. I also recall Ghenhis Khan as a truly massive beastie.) Bill, I have interpreted many of your comments to mean that blazes and pandas are opposite ends of the same color/pattern scale. So, I can easily see how a ferret could slide back and forth. My question is what would you consider their true color for your registry database? Since you are concerned with genetic type as opposed to temporary physical appearance, how would you classify Bodhisattva? (You mentioned indeterminate blaze/pandas sometimes are considered patches. Is he this, a blaze, or a panda?) Which season is the "true" color? I have photos of our black sable appearing very Siamese with a minimal mask one winter. Since this was only one winter (out of 7 now) and never returned, I don't consider it part of his color. By the same token, I don't consider some birds' bland winter colors their true colors either (although they are seasonal). As Pam mentioned, some ferrets lighten over time, so at what age should we consider their color as "final". You have to deal with this more as a breeder since you might like to pass on some specific color trait. I've always treated ferret colors somewhat like statistics. I use the usual summer color as the average to classify and might describe the variation extremes as sort of a standard deviation. I guess as a judge you have to go by what you see. As a breeder though, which color is it? ( )--(a) (@=@=) \ Till next time.......Rudy the ferlosopher O__) \ \___ \ \ /\ * ) \ [Posted in FML issue 1392]