Do Ferrets Have Dreams ?
Are they dreaming ? (photo by Lynn Scott)
Dino was taking a nap today in my lap while I was working on my laptop. Every few minutes he would twitch a bit and make a soft noise. After doing this a few times, he had my full attention.
While I was watching him, he would alternate between grinding his teeth and moving his legs. It first looked like he was dreaming about eating something but soon it became leg movements only. All 4 legs were moving but his front legs were moving excessively. It looked like he might have been chasing something or batting a toy around. He kept this up for 10-15 minutes. Then all of a sudden he sprang up to his feet in a nanosecond – Exactly like a human might do if a gun shot went off while they were sleeping. He did this despite the fact that no noise had been created.
After he sprang to his feet, he just stood there. You could see him looking around the room then at me. He was obviously trying to get his bearings and probably wondering “What the hell…”. After he realized everything was ok, he let out a yawn and sigh, then laid back down on my lap.
It was kind of comical but really makes me wonder what was going through his head.
Yep, mine certianly do dream. Parker my Marshall farms boy who made it to 8+ would do this. He was deaf from what I could tell, and many times at night he would actually scream in his sleep. He even woke me from my sleep when he screamed in his room across the hall. He did this mostly in the first 2 years I had him, and in the last year or 2 of his life (as he got older and his health started to fail. I am not sure why, but I had a friend who owned a deaf ferret as well and said he would do the same thing. Juan Pablo, my albino boy who I am sure isn’t deaf will talk in his sleep too.
I would feel so bad for my ferret if it screamed at night. I guess besides dreams, they must have nightmares. Lol, I have not seen a ferret talk in his sleep.
I swear they dream. My three are always moving and making odd noises while they are sleeping. They didn’t always do this so when they started doing so I was always checking on them to make sure that they weren’t hurt. My youngest has a tendency to sleep with his eyes open so I can actually see his eyes move as he sleeps which is both creepy and cool. Some times when they have bad dreams and yelp or make some other noise that indicates pain/panic (no screams yet!) one of the others will wake up and start licking the one who made the noise. Overall every cute!
They are definitely dreaming. I wonder if about us ever ?
So, your one licks the other for comfort ? That is very cute. Not so cute is sleeping with eyes open… ha ha. That would freak me out .
Dino seems to be walking/playing/running in his dreams more. I just wonder what the hell he is thinking of..
Above is a picture of my two little girls, Bella and Nookie! I love them to no end…………….
Thank you again Jeff… VERY informative, as always!