I am waiting anxiously for Desmond Morris to come out with a book called "Ferret Watching." Until then (I guess this could be a really long wait), I just have to guess what some of my ferret's strange social seeming behaviors mean. There is one that especially confounds me. Sebastian is an extremely sweet, cuddly creature. He loves to crawl in bed with me and my husband. However, once he gets to his favorite spot under the covers down by our feet, he proceeds to scratch us vigorously with his little claws. This is pretty uncomfortable. Does anyone know what kind of behavior this is? I occasionally see him scratching at his bedding when he sleeps alone, but mostly he likes to scratch me. My husband postulated that it is similar to being "kneaded" by a cat. In otherwords, it's a leftover behavior from babyhood which is useful in nursing. Whatever it is, it's sort of cute, and sort of painful. (Ow! Stop that! Awww, he's licking my leg, now, awwww...Hey! Ouch!) --Catherine Shaffer [Posted in FML issue 1395]