Hi all! My girlfriend and I are the proud parents of a couple of absolutely precious fuzzbutts. We have a cinnamon sable (male, almost 2 y/o), and two "standard" sable ferrets. One is a female (about 1.5 y/o) and the other is a male (about 11 weeks old). The three of them get along WONDERFULLY, but the other night, when we were putting them to bed, we noticed that the youngest male (we named him Socrates "Socks" for short because of his little white toes) was happily nibbling away on the female's ("Arrie") ears. This behavior wasn't malicious, and apparently Arrie didn't mind, because she is a vocal little girl, and she never chuckled, never hissed, never made a sound. Being the neurotic ferret parents that we are, we were slightly worried about the situation, and so we checked on them periodically. The nibbling had absolutely no physical effect on Arrie's ears (except that they got really wet). My question is this: has anyone else seen a similar behavior pattern in their little guys, and if so, what is the nature of the behavior? I'm guessing that it could either be dominance, or some sort of grooming ritual. Oh...by the way...they're all "fixed". Please respond via email, as I don't always have time to read the newsletter. Thanks in advance! Dan the two-legger Nicki : I'm tired...but AREN'T I CUTE??? When you die, you want to come back as ME! Arrie : Sure Nicki, you're cute, but I'm the little princess! HAHAHAHAHA Socks : must cause havoc...must hide wallets...must miss the pottybox...so many things to do and so little time! [Posted in FML issue 2124]