From:
Linda Iroff
Date: 2002-06-28 17:45:00 UTC
Subject: Mommy and Daddy instincts
Tansy writes
> I have seen this behavior in both male and
> female ferrets. Always rescues (as in pet store
> ferrets), have never seen it in a breeder ferret.
Buttons is a deaf male, private breeder, altered at 6 months. When he was a
kit, he had a rattle that he dragged around everywhere. Still has it at age
5. But his "baby" is the Scoozie ferret I got for Christmas 1 1/2 years
ago. I think he likes the motions and vibrations it makes.
He took it over from me pretty quickly after I got it, and keeps it behind
the bed. If it is moved somewhere else, he takes it back. What really
amazed me though a few weeks after he had been keeping it, I decided I
wanted it back. I took it from its hiding place while the ferrets were
sleeping in the cage, and put it on the dining room table out of sight.
Later when I let them out, Buttons ran a few steps into the room, then
stopped dead in his tracks. His nose went up in the air and he sniffed
around. He was frantic, running about the room trying to locate his
Scoozie! Sigh... I surrended ownership and gave the Scoozie back--what else
could I do?
Linda Iroff
Co-Director, International Ferret Congress
Facts, Fun and Fellowship at the Forum at the Falls, Sept 21, 2002.
See http://www.ferretcongress.org for info.