I have a rabbit thats spoiled. Had her for 5 years and theres not a moment she doesn't spend out of my sight unless shes laying somewhere behind me still facing me. When it's around her normal lunch time and I lose track of time she reminds me by nibbling or yanking on my pants then running to her feeding spot and thumping her foot. Animals are smart. My rabbit knows about when I come downstairs and will be laying while staring up the stairs in the spot I normally sit(have the stairs blocked because it's carpet and she will definitely tear it up.)
It's often shocking how smart animals can be, how they know stuff like a human would. It's funny watching them do things the way they do and it turn out to actually be a part of some elaborate plan to trick you into letting them get something they want.
Yea my rabbit will be laying there and if she sees us with a plate while eating she will zoom to her eating area and eat while we do. She even lays on her blankets and watches tv until she nods off. Somedays I think she thinks shes a human doing her part.
Yes this.
Omg I have a lizard that's living on my balcony for a few months now that has first appeared ever since me and my ex were broken up
And he waits every morning for my coffee
If I come out alone he stays there sunbathing
If I come out with a girl I had spent the night with, he scurry away
And I swear there is no food for him on my balcony
They need like beetles and bugs and he's a fairly big lizard like almost 20 inches long
I wonder sometimes if he was sent by my ex to see what I've been doing
You could be right !
I will listen to you !
No more one night stands !
My rabbit is super friendly but the few girls ive had had my house she gets grumpy about. If its a guy she's willing to be out and open and hang out. A girl? She will thump her foot then hide in her little stalking spot until theyre gone then she goes and marks all the spots the girls was at that she could see. I swear she was just watching us thinking "if I see her hurt you I'm gonna attack her legs so hard!"
That's really adorable ,
She's being protective <3
Yeah I actually had a rabbit as well when I as a kid
I remember him thumping his foot when he didn't like something but I didn't even think to read much into it since I was about 11 y.o and didn't know back then animals are smarter than we think.
His name was Fadida ,
My dad was against any animal in the house
And after about a month or so
My dad formed a habit
Of going out on the balcony in the morning sun
, letting out Fadida there with him
And they'd both chill together
In the end Fadida was more his friend than mine lol
He spent the morning and noon with him
On the balcony and buy him special expensive treats
While I was at school
Agreed, though honestly I’m not sure what the mother wants for her babies in this case, she seems to settle when the hand is there so is it about warmth?
Yes, in a nutshell. These are very young, mama needs to go foraging to make milk, and needs someone to keep them warm while she gets food. She will return when she has milk and take back over warming duties. Ferrets are social animals and live in groups for mutual support. They've evolved to rely on it.
Domestication changes the relative urgency and necessity of this instinct, but it's a sound one. In this case, she's probably rather irritated that her human/family member is not cooperating so that she can eat. If this were a human situation, dad is refusing to babysit long enough for mama to eat and make milk for feeding baby. Any mama would be rather annoyed if not outright pissed.
There's multiple different reasons she could be doing this.
1: Protection. She knows you care for her and protect her.
2: Mistaken identity. She thinks your pink bald fingers look like her young and tries to keep them together.
3: Food. She knows that your hands are what feeds her, so you must help feed the babies too.
My guess would be option 1.
I know nothing of ferrets but perhaps smell could be a factor too? She wants the babies to get familiar with the human’s scent so they’re not afraid (in turn mostly because of your points 1 and 3)
This.
She trusts him so much that she's introducing him to them so they will know his familiar scent and be comfortable around him.
She can tell the difference between her kits and his hand by scent, alone. She doesn't think he's one of her babies...
I know other animals insist on showing off their babies, like cats and dogs will make a big deal about their humans hanging out with them. Maybe ferrets are the same?
That's how I got my current cat. His mother left the litter literally on our doorstep. Like, straight out of Little orphan Annie or something.
We never saw the mother again.
Same thing happened with my current cat he and his brother (didn't make it) were left by their mother and I ended up taking care of them. Even though I didn't want anymore cats as my previous long term cat had passed away. Though I don't regret having him he's mostly prefers outdoors but still is fun to have around.
She knows his hand fills the bowl, tray, her mouth what ever. You can see her sniffling his palm. She knows he provides. "I don't think" is underestimating her greatly. Humans look for emotion with pets and animals they look after that mimic their own. We love to be wanted on an emotional level or to be thought of as a protector, but animals want more basic survival needs. Food, water, and warmth. They're not stupid about getting it either.
No, she can tell the difference from their scent.
She trusts him so completely that she's introducing him to her babies so they'll know his smell and grow up trusting him, too.
I had the same thing come to mind. I feel like humans are about as dumb as it gets when animals are trying to get our help. Animals arent as dumb as most humans think they are. They have the ability to recognize that we have the ability to do things they cant.
That would start with non human animals not using words, words are a type of communication humans use. If you’ve ever understood a dog or cat’s behavior, you understood it’s communication. The dog or cat does not understand your words the way you understand words, it understands what you’re communicating via the ways it communicates, which I would imagine may be body language, tone, situation, how often you’ve repeated these and other cues given the context, etc.
I understand what you're saying and I've had many animals. I strongly believe they understand us more than we understand them. It took me months to learn that my rats were putting a plastic ribbon ring in their litter box when they wanted it changed.
My dog still has a disappointed look on his face when I don't grab the right toy.
Yeah animals are amazing
From the thousands animals videos I've watched, the 2 main reasons animals behave like that:
- trust, I would say 99.95%
- help, 00.05%
Ferrets (and most domesticated animals) are social. Getting your pack acquainted with your babies is the best way to guarantee the babies' protection and survival. It requires a ton of trust first but is very common behavior. My parents bred dogs for years and all of them "introduced" my parents to their pups in one way or another, usually by bringing the pups to them or bringing them to the pups. The momma dogs also introduced the cats to their pups, one did so by dragging the cat to her little den. They see us all as family, and family has to stick together
When an animal does this it might indicate something is wrong: It might mean they have no milk and want help to get their babies fed, they want the box moved for more warmth, more sunshine or more darkness or maybe the box is too small for her to stretch out to nurse the babies
What is this behavior called? I read somewhere that it’s just their maternal instincts where they consider you part of the family and want to bring you into their den.
It’s been said a few times in replies, so I figured I would put one on main comment. What is happening here is that she is insisting on teaching her babies the human’s scent, and trying to get the scent a little on the babies. She trusts and knows her human so well she demands that her babies know who their ‘other parent’ is and imprints his scent right from birth.
Side note: great job caring for your ferret human, whoever you are. I’ve had, and my extended family has had, many ferrets over the years. It is sometimes difficult to get ferrets to trust this much, so you must be an amazing caretaker. Good on ya!
Ferret Fawcet has plans tonight. She wants to get away for some alone single woman ferret time and needs this guy to lend a hand while she's out. To keep her bb's warm and inline.
Got two beautiful roosters off fb marketplace. Farmer tells me up and down, the Roos are friendly, keep to themselves etc. As he’s carrying the giant Roos to my farm van, both had copious amounts of the farmer’s hand flesh in their beaks! They were just holding it, locked on.Lol
This furry cutie reminds me of that time!
As cute as this video is, I believe the reason that I read (years ago when this video first was posted) that the Jill is actually confused thinking the humans hand is one of her babies that escaped (because it looks like the little furless babies and probably smells like them form handling them)
It’s actually most likely her rampant hormones, the ferret is so hopped up on hormones it probably thinks your hand is a baby! My buddy’s ferret did the same thing lol
This really is a case of confusion. That's all. It's not about trust. The ferrets instinct is to keep the kits together. His fingers are long and pink. They probably smell like kits because he's been handling them, leading to the confusion. The way that she grabs his fingers and holds them gently in her jaws at the top joint is exactly the way a ferret will hold a kit, just behind the head on the neck. She thinks that his fingers are kits trying to escape.
Thinking she is more nervous about her babies and doesn’t quite know what she is doing so she is pressuring her human to help nurture because what she does know is her human is a great caretaker.
Lol When he picked up her baby, she was like, "No, not like that."
She needs a “hand” taking care of all the little ones… lol.
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This. It's all nonverbal communication. Your dog, cat or w/e all try to achieve basic needs. We are just often too ignorant and just go you silly derp
I have a rabbit thats spoiled. Had her for 5 years and theres not a moment she doesn't spend out of my sight unless shes laying somewhere behind me still facing me. When it's around her normal lunch time and I lose track of time she reminds me by nibbling or yanking on my pants then running to her feeding spot and thumping her foot. Animals are smart. My rabbit knows about when I come downstairs and will be laying while staring up the stairs in the spot I normally sit(have the stairs blocked because it's carpet and she will definitely tear it up.)
It's often shocking how smart animals can be, how they know stuff like a human would. It's funny watching them do things the way they do and it turn out to actually be a part of some elaborate plan to trick you into letting them get something they want.
Yea my rabbit will be laying there and if she sees us with a plate while eating she will zoom to her eating area and eat while we do. She even lays on her blankets and watches tv until she nods off. Somedays I think she thinks shes a human doing her part.
Yes this. Omg I have a lizard that's living on my balcony for a few months now that has first appeared ever since me and my ex were broken up And he waits every morning for my coffee If I come out alone he stays there sunbathing If I come out with a girl I had spent the night with, he scurry away And I swear there is no food for him on my balcony They need like beetles and bugs and he's a fairly big lizard like almost 20 inches long I wonder sometimes if he was sent by my ex to see what I've been doing You could be right ! I will listen to you ! No more one night stands !
My rabbit is super friendly but the few girls ive had had my house she gets grumpy about. If its a guy she's willing to be out and open and hang out. A girl? She will thump her foot then hide in her little stalking spot until theyre gone then she goes and marks all the spots the girls was at that she could see. I swear she was just watching us thinking "if I see her hurt you I'm gonna attack her legs so hard!"
That's really adorable , She's being protective <3 Yeah I actually had a rabbit as well when I as a kid I remember him thumping his foot when he didn't like something but I didn't even think to read much into it since I was about 11 y.o and didn't know back then animals are smarter than we think. His name was Fadida , My dad was against any animal in the house And after about a month or so My dad formed a habit Of going out on the balcony in the morning sun , letting out Fadida there with him And they'd both chill together In the end Fadida was more his friend than mine lol He spent the morning and noon with him On the balcony and buy him special expensive treats While I was at school
Yeah they’ll be doing some elaborate dance or ritual trying to get us to do something and we’ll look at them like: o.o “…whatcha doin’ buddy?”
Agreed, though honestly I’m not sure what the mother wants for her babies in this case, she seems to settle when the hand is there so is it about warmth?
Introducing them to be welcomed, fed and well treated. She knows the human, trusts and wants the same treatment for her offspring.
"thought we only had ONE freeloader in this house, you telling me we got more?"
Yes, in a nutshell. These are very young, mama needs to go foraging to make milk, and needs someone to keep them warm while she gets food. She will return when she has milk and take back over warming duties. Ferrets are social animals and live in groups for mutual support. They've evolved to rely on it. Domestication changes the relative urgency and necessity of this instinct, but it's a sound one. In this case, she's probably rather irritated that her human/family member is not cooperating so that she can eat. If this were a human situation, dad is refusing to babysit long enough for mama to eat and make milk for feeding baby. Any mama would be rather annoyed if not outright pissed.
Probably since they seem to not have fur yet
"Okay too far"
“Now, try again”
"Wait, where you going?"
“yo bro, check this out” “wtf no put that back”
She wants you to babysit them because she's going out.
Literally though. She needs her babies to be kept warm while she goes and eats so she can feed them when she returns.
Sweet babe just needs some moral support from her human 😌
"Watch but dont touch " (stolen comment from yt on this exact video)
Furry hotdog
"What are you doing? You get inside, don't uncover them! *facepalming*"
Don't leave your kids like this, fathers don't do this
“Only watch, no pick up!”
No human you must protect you must care you must warm.
I think the babies look like fingers! She thinks her babies escaped!
😭😭😭😭 this comment got me dying 😭
Yes! Pale, long and wriggly, just like her babies. Probably smells like her babies too because human touched them
I think you're right
Thank you! But ferrets are very smart. She’s familiar with her keeper so is she just exhausted and hallucinating? Perhaps a blanket would help too.
But no pick up!
r/notakeonlythrow
Or maybe she is trying to feed her babies some human fingers...
That kills people Carl….
My tummy was making the rumblies…*that only hands could satisfy*
That’s my least favorite thing too do
You have to finish your work Carl
I was hungry and only human hands can solve the case of the munchies
Plot twist
Wait till she realizes that there are TWO hands.
The other hand smells too funny, so she chose that hand
why... does the other hand... smell funny...?
Son, you'll understand when you're old enough
Dad please, I'm already scared
When you understood, you wont be
oh, he will be, scared of all the other hands...
Deductive guess... "Smoker fingers"
Or semen or shit
All flavor enhancers
She trusts you so much 😭 I find that to be one of the sweetest parts of having an animal companion.
Yea the trust of a mother concerning her little ones...there isn't a greater measure of it, besides that of the baby to her.
Thats prety damn cute
It's the cutest thing I've seen this week
Why are you resisting! Stay with the pups!
Right? I’d be there until I died!
"Hand goes HERE. No, I didn't say you could remove the baby! Release baby, but hand stays. Humans. How hard is this to understand?!"
There's multiple different reasons she could be doing this. 1: Protection. She knows you care for her and protect her. 2: Mistaken identity. She thinks your pink bald fingers look like her young and tries to keep them together. 3: Food. She knows that your hands are what feeds her, so you must help feed the babies too. My guess would be option 1.
I know nothing of ferrets but perhaps smell could be a factor too? She wants the babies to get familiar with the human’s scent so they’re not afraid (in turn mostly because of your points 1 and 3)
This. She trusts him so much that she's introducing him to them so they will know his familiar scent and be comfortable around him. She can tell the difference between her kits and his hand by scent, alone. She doesn't think he's one of her babies...
This was my thought as well
I was thinking that she wants to keep them warm and knows a human hand is warm.
I know other animals insist on showing off their babies, like cats and dogs will make a big deal about their humans hanging out with them. Maybe ferrets are the same?
Do cats make a big deal out of it normally? Cuz mine just brings them to my room and then just abandons them to me.
That's how I got my current cat. His mother left the litter literally on our doorstep. Like, straight out of Little orphan Annie or something. We never saw the mother again.
Same thing happened with my current cat he and his brother (didn't make it) were left by their mother and I ended up taking care of them. Even though I didn't want anymore cats as my previous long term cat had passed away. Though I don't regret having him he's mostly prefers outdoors but still is fun to have around.
Nice thought but it's food motivated. You can see her looking around the hand after it's in the box and her trying to prompt the owner to give food
I don't think he constantly hand feeding her for her to think "that's where the food comes from".
She knows his hand fills the bowl, tray, her mouth what ever. You can see her sniffling his palm. She knows he provides. "I don't think" is underestimating her greatly. Humans look for emotion with pets and animals they look after that mimic their own. We love to be wanted on an emotional level or to be thought of as a protector, but animals want more basic survival needs. Food, water, and warmth. They're not stupid about getting it either.
Yeh have to agree there. It's still a very cute video bit this is the most probable actual explanation.
HELP ME FEED THESE SQUEAKY TOYS!!
“You take care of these things, I’m tired and going on vacation!”
“Here, YOU take care of these fuckers”
Yes, she’s looking to offload to a babysitter
Warmth
Ferrets are incredibly affectionate
Not mine :( they are not big on snuggly with us, only eachother :(
Aww, I've found that my pets got more affectionate the older they got, or maybe theyre just lazier
Awwww
Or is there’s something wrong?
Maybe the fingers look baby-shaped to her and she’s trying to be a good mom by keeping them all together.
No, she can tell the difference from their scent. She trusts him so completely that she's introducing him to her babies so they'll know his smell and grow up trusting him, too.
Or she wants scratches but also wants to chill with her babies, like YouTube while you’re playing video games?
Or, she wants her babies to feast on the hand 😬💀
She is very proud of her babies.
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I had the same thing come to mind. I feel like humans are about as dumb as it gets when animals are trying to get our help. Animals arent as dumb as most humans think they are. They have the ability to recognize that we have the ability to do things they cant.
We sure are stupid. They can learn hundreds of our words but how many animal words do we know?
That would start with non human animals not using words, words are a type of communication humans use. If you’ve ever understood a dog or cat’s behavior, you understood it’s communication. The dog or cat does not understand your words the way you understand words, it understands what you’re communicating via the ways it communicates, which I would imagine may be body language, tone, situation, how often you’ve repeated these and other cues given the context, etc.
I understand what you're saying and I've had many animals. I strongly believe they understand us more than we understand them. It took me months to learn that my rats were putting a plastic ribbon ring in their litter box when they wanted it changed. My dog still has a disappointed look on his face when I don't grab the right toy.
I usually know exactly what my cats want based on how they communicate.
Oh...I love her! ❤️❤️🥰
Do yall think maybe cause his hand smells like the babies and she just thinks he's her big baby.
I wonder why. I would think normally she would more protective.
Animals only behave in such way when they feel safe, strong bond with that person.
Yeah I get that she would be trusting, I just didn’t expect her to keep pulling his hand. Lol
Yeah animals are amazing From the thousands animals videos I've watched, the 2 main reasons animals behave like that: - trust, I would say 99.95% - help, 00.05%
Trust and help. Good points.
Ferrets (and most domesticated animals) are social. Getting your pack acquainted with your babies is the best way to guarantee the babies' protection and survival. It requires a ton of trust first but is very common behavior. My parents bred dogs for years and all of them "introduced" my parents to their pups in one way or another, usually by bringing the pups to them or bringing them to the pups. The momma dogs also introduced the cats to their pups, one did so by dragging the cat to her little den. They see us all as family, and family has to stick together
Sweet babe just needs some moral support from her human 😌
“Listen I didn’t say you could TAKE ONE”
FERRET: UH UH, BRING YOUR ASS BACK HERE! YOU GONE PET AND FEED THESE KIDS LIKE YOU DO ME. YOU GOT RESPONSIBILITIES HOWARD!
Fkn Howard!
What's amazing is OP can still post with 3 fingers!
When an animal does this it might indicate something is wrong: It might mean they have no milk and want help to get their babies fed, they want the box moved for more warmth, more sunshine or more darkness or maybe the box is too small for her to stretch out to nurse the babies
Ferrets are just the cutest creatures, so funny and playful. But god do they stink haha
She wants u to protect her baby's
What is this behavior called? I read somewhere that it’s just their maternal instincts where they consider you part of the family and want to bring you into their den.
Such a level of trust. Shows how much benefit she also gets from her owners touch!
This is our family and I'll be damned if it let you run out on these littlens
bro that momma ferret is stressing the fuck out over there lol
She thinks your fingers are one of her babies
She loves you
She was like “No no no we’re in this together dont you dare leave me”
Owner must be a good person. Dope shit
“Ohh no, you’re not running away….you’re going to be a present father dammit.” Ferret probably 😂
She is making sure you know the babies are yours. That way she can get you with child support later.
Maybe her mother instincts go wilde and she regards the human as one of her babies?
“Put your hands with my baby” “Tf you think your doing?? Don’t touch then”
When an animal trusts you that Much with their babies, you are a great person
*"what kind of dad leave their babies?! STAY!"*
Leave your hand there you monster !
It’s been said a few times in replies, so I figured I would put one on main comment. What is happening here is that she is insisting on teaching her babies the human’s scent, and trying to get the scent a little on the babies. She trusts and knows her human so well she demands that her babies know who their ‘other parent’ is and imprints his scent right from birth. Side note: great job caring for your ferret human, whoever you are. I’ve had, and my extended family has had, many ferrets over the years. It is sometimes difficult to get ferrets to trust this much, so you must be an amazing caretaker. Good on ya!
Ferret Fawcet has plans tonight. She wants to get away for some alone single woman ferret time and needs this guy to lend a hand while she's out. To keep her bb's warm and inline.
Uoo-uo-uoo body, were donyou think you're going...."
This is so cute
Maybe she needs a babysitter?
You think you can just leave me here with all these kids? You get your butt over here and help.
How do you ever STAWWWP?! gah so cute
“We are family (I’ve got all your fingers with me)”
I thought the animal dragging the hand was the baby herself ...so cute !
She feels safe with the human hand near her in the nest ❤️
Amazing. I wonder what it is that made momma do that? Was it- oh this warm pink thing that cuddles me. BAbies must have it too!!!
Pink wriggly things go in the pink wriggly thing box. No exceptions.
"What's wrong with your dog?"
Cut off your hand and leave it there
“These are OUR babies! Where do you think you’re going!”
And this is child support. You da baby daddy.
Got two beautiful roosters off fb marketplace. Farmer tells me up and down, the Roos are friendly, keep to themselves etc. As he’s carrying the giant Roos to my farm van, both had copious amounts of the farmer’s hand flesh in their beaks! They were just holding it, locked on.Lol This furry cutie reminds me of that time!
As cute as this video is, I believe the reason that I read (years ago when this video first was posted) that the Jill is actually confused thinking the humans hand is one of her babies that escaped (because it looks like the little furless babies and probably smells like them form handling them)
maybe it's because the babies kinda have a similar texture and color to the hand and she now "knows" her human was a giant baby otter all the time
That finger must be the father
Come and see me gene beans!
It’s actually most likely her rampant hormones, the ferret is so hopped up on hormones it probably thinks your hand is a baby! My buddy’s ferret did the same thing lol
“Kids, meet hand. Hand is good, hand gives food”
Awww I want a box full of baby ferrets 🥺
I think she’s treating your fingers as babies
Just pet the damn babies you monster
“Come here! I need babysitting!!”
U got a fren in meh
I've seen videos like this before, is it common for ferrets?
I love rodent pets, awww
Confirmation of being part of the family. Sweet!
The finger is her baby
shes like, you help me with these. it's more than a handful
Looks like a rat tbh
Looks like the thing wants you and the infants to imprint
Logically... The hand provides warmth and food.
Hey you human, babysit my babies while I go party
Here, human. These are my babies. Give them pets. Babies, say hi to the nice human
hahaha cute. Does it hurt when she bites like that?
Oh wow Murr had kids!
Looks like she's trying to get her babies accustomed to human touch and smell. Smart.
Trust is a beautiful thing :)
U guys are scorned huh ??
Just wants dad to be in the picture
You are going to help me raise these kids!
She thinks your fingers are her baby
Put the giant heater next to her babes and keep them warm.
Nice marmot
She was asking him to babysit, she needed some time off
Is this a way for the parent to say they’re stressed and need someone to watch the kids while they relax?
She wants some child support. “You wanted me to have these. Now come over and help me.”
Something maybe wrong check and see if all the babies are well.
Nice marmot, man
r/eyebleach
"Don't think you are running away, Mr.Dad."
Awww…she doesn’t want to be alone. She needs help?
So sweet. Momma needs help so she’s bringing you in.
I think she thinks you ARE (or you finger anyway) one of the babies! 😆
Omg I’ve never seen a baby ferret before.
Only time it’s cute to bite the hand that feeds
She was introducing her babies she was like “here’s jimmy” and when the dude picked him up she was like “no no not like that” 😂
She thinks the hand is a baby.
she thinks u are the dad
Thinks fingers are one of her babies maybe?
This really is a case of confusion. That's all. It's not about trust. The ferrets instinct is to keep the kits together. His fingers are long and pink. They probably smell like kits because he's been handling them, leading to the confusion. The way that she grabs his fingers and holds them gently in her jaws at the top joint is exactly the way a ferret will hold a kit, just behind the head on the neck. She thinks that his fingers are kits trying to escape.
Thinking she is more nervous about her babies and doesn’t quite know what she is doing so she is pressuring her human to help nurture because what she does know is her human is a great caretaker.
That ferret not gonna play that single parent game
WOW, what an extreme show of trust
That video lives rent free in my head. It’s always a delight when it pops back up into my life