I've frequently heard of people being concerned about whether terrier breeds and ferrets can get along. Our experience has been very positive. When we brought home our first two ferrets, our Yorkie was thrilled. I think that they reminded her of her favorite toy--a man-shaped stuffed fake sheepskin toy that we call Fuzzyman. When she first saw them, you could almost hear what she was thinking "Oh boy! Moving, jumping, living fuzzymen!" Her tail was wagging so fast that it was a blur. We carefully introduced them to each other. Coco, the Yorkie, started to pounce and bounce playfully. The gib just looked at her attempts to play and walked away. He clearly communicated to her "I don't play with dogs." The sprite, however, loved it. She played right back, pouncing and play biting with the Yorkie. Now my Yorkie is not exactly standard for the breed. Last time she was at the vet she weighted 17 pounds. We call her a mega-Yorkie. This makes her ten times the size of Sweetie. But guess who consistently gets the worst of it? Coco, of course! We hear a "YIP!" and we find that Sweetie has latched onto the dog's lip. This is accidental; she's aiming for Coco's mustache or the long hair on her ears. When she grabs the dog's lip it's a miscalculation. It soon became clear that this is interspecies play...sort of like a French speaking child playing with an English speaking child. - Dog- "I'll jump on top of you and pin you down, then you'll lie quietly and let me lick you." - Ferret-"You'll jump on top of me and pin me down, giving me the perfect opportunity to latch onto your nipples." - Dog-"YIP!" - Dog-"I'll roll you over onto your back, and you'll bare your throat and surrender." - Ferret-"You'll roll me over onto my back, giving me the perfect opening to bite your nose." - Dog-"YIP!" - Ferret-"I'll jump on your back and bite the back of your neck, and you'll go limp and surrender." - Dog-"You'll jump on my back and bite the back of my neck, and I'll roll over on top of you." - Ferret-"Let me outta here!" (running away) What fun! However, they are both careful with each other. Coco never puts too much weight on Sweetie when she pounces, and Sweetie usually latches onto hair, not flesh when she attacks. It's a riot to see Sweetie leaping full out at Coco or sneaking around to jump onto her back, where she clings with all four paws and her mouth. Interspecies fun and games! Melodyt and the three fuzzbutts [Posted in FML issue 1772]