A BIG thanks to BIG on his suggestions for fixin' my telcomuunications problems! Things work lots better, faster, and with less foulups. If you use a Mac, ask about his suggestions; they really work. Unfortunately, I still have server problems (they are getting better) and have lost my last few fml posts. They just disappear into the ether. Things are supposed to be fixed over spring break. But I gave up and bought an AOL account if things really get fouled up. Regarding Urine Licking: This is quite common in mustelids and is usually males doing the deed, and has been reported in ferret literature. Its mostly a sexual behavior, with males licking female urine. But not always; males can lick their own or other males, and sometimes females will engage in the act. I have read that it ocassionally occurs in neutered males; I wouldn't worry about "bad fixing"--if you don't see them, they don't got them. However, I HAVE wondered if it might be related to increased hormone production by the adrenal glands--they also secrete small amounts of testosterone as any post-menopausal woman with facial hair will testify-- because of stress, something new in the environment, or disease, etc. As a single symptom, I wouldn't worry about it. I would, however, watch for other symptoms of a more dangerous nature. Regarding feelings in animals: Sure, animals have feelings. They display fear, anger, compassion, curiosity; in short, about the same range of feelings that humans have. Its not anthropomorphizing IF you realize that humans have human feelings, and ferrets have ferret feelings. What the ferret (or ANY creature) feels is relative to its species. While research may ultimately find their feelings may correlate with our own, and I think it will, that is not yet the case. I have a dear friend working on finding emotion centers in the vertebrate brain, and she has told me that the destruction of certain regions of the brain will alter similarly expressed emotions of most mammals. (I will not give her name because she does NOT need hate mail from people protesting animal torture.) IMHO, most humans have never understood that we are just a chipped stone tool away from the rest of the animal kingdom (actually we ARE part of the animal kindgom; we just use chipped stone tools instead of big teeth and claws). Our emotions are part of a continuum that contains the emotions of all other animals. Not all animals have all our emotions, and certainly we may not have some expressed by other creatures. So its appropriate and accurate to say that the ferret seems pissed; but it's inaccurate to say it gets pissed for that same reasons I (or any other human) get pissed. There is a downside to realizing this. If you accept that an animal has feelings, and has the right to display them as they were designed to display them, then you can't get mad if they dig your carpet or drag each other around the room, or mark their territory with poop. In other words, ferrets are ferrets, and ya gotta luv em fer wat dey are. Bob and the 13 Jerky Lovers [Posted in FML issue 1501]