Do Ferrets Understand Humans?
Ferrets are regularly kept as pets, and people often want to know if they are able to understand humans. From their reactions and behaviour, it does appear that ferrets are able to understand their humans.
Recognizing and Responding to Voice Commands
Research indicates that ferrets respond to their name and to their owner’s voice. Owners often report that their ferrets recognize simple voice commands and commands such as ‘come’, ‘no’ and ‘stop’. They may also respond to verbal praises and scoldings.
Understanding Human Moods and Expressions
Ferrets have been observed to have a curious and outgoing nature, and are known to be very sensitive to their humans’ body language, expressions and emotions. They appear to be very intuitive, and can tell when their human is feeling happy, sad or angry.
Using Human Gestures and Cues
Ferrets are known to pay attention to and respond to human gestures and cues. If a human shakes a toy or makes a gesture to play with a ferret, the ferret is known to respond in kind. They are also keen to observe and react to facial expressions and body language.
Demonstrating Bonding and Affection
Ferrets can form strong and loyal bonds with their humans. They have been known to show signs of mutual affection, such as cuddling and licking. They are also known to show signs of enjoyment when interacting with their human, such as purring and making chirping noises.
Therefore, it appears that ferrets are able to understand and respond to their human in a variety of ways. They are known to pay attention to human voice commands, gestures and expressions and to form a bond and show affection to their human.