Just did an experiment with my young male. He gets real crunk when I grab the shovel for some odd reason. As soon as I grabbed the shovel and stood it in front of him he just went APE and that base of his tail got bushy. As soon as I went save the shovel and he calmed down, his tail went back to normal. It gotta be when they get excited or "so live" as I call it. Lol. Just my $.02.