(Have to type carefully -- working on half a brain here) When they use their hands to rub their scent over their faces -- the yawns or sneezes (with hands cupped around noses) to help force the scent out, then licking the palms and putting then back behind the ears, and dragging them forward... Sleeping with their tongues hanging out One thing I can't help wondering, since folks often speak of natural LIGHT time, is whether DARK time might also be important for ferret health. Remember that Melatonin is produced during dark time and some preliminary research (reported in Science News a few years back -- don't have the actual thing handy but a person could search in the weekly or look in "Science" since they tend to reflect each other a resonable amount) indicated that Melatonin might have important anti-malignancy properties. Ferrets ARE descended from animals which had a LOT of non-light time. How much dark time is given in shelter situations? I don't mean semi-lit; I mean DARK. Sukie [Posted in FML issue 2227]