>Yea!  that's what I was looking for - some facts!  :-)  Tell me more.
 
Most rabbiting in the UK is carried out during the autumn and winter.  I
would never put my ferrets against rats - as far as I'm concerned I prefer
to leave that to the terriers - ferrets can receive horrific injuries when
used for ratting.  As soon as pregnant does turn up we stop ferreting, no
sense in leaving nursing young to starve to death because their mother has
been killed and besides which a doe protecting her litter could probably
paste the living daylights out of a ferret.
 
I always feed my ferrets before going hunting, the wooden carrying box is
filled with fresh bedding (shredded paper).  The nets are checked and folded
ready for use.  The batteries are checked in the collar and transmitter, I
don't want to lose contact with the ferret when it's underground.  I check
that my lock knife is sharp.
 
On reaching the hunting area, in my case open moor-land - I haven't done any
hedgerow ferreting yet.  Jack's (my ferreting pal) dog is let loose to check
out any likely warrens.  When the dog 'marks' we place purse nets over all
the holes we can find.  The ferrets are fitted with the collars and one last
check is made that they are transmitting before placing the ferrets down the
holes.  All this should be carried out very quietly - a rabbit is not likely
to bolt if it hears a lot of noise above ground, it would rather face the
ferret.
 
I prefer to stand on top of the warren out of sight of the bolting rabbits,
you might hear a rumbling and bumping as the ferret gets the rabbits moving.
The dog will probably be staring intently at a hole waiting for the rabbit
to emerge.  Suddenly a purse net is hit by a bolting rabbit, the net
enmeshes the rabbit completely.  Jack goes to the net a 'chins' the rabbit
quickly and removes the body from the net and replaces the net over the hole.
 
If nothing moves, or the ferrets are slow in coming out, Jack will use the
finder sweeping it over the warren until he picks up a signal.  If the
signal is stationary it can be because the ferret has a rabbit(s) bottled up
in a stop or the ferret has 'killed down' and is staying with the rabbit,
either way it will require some digging.  The finder will show how deep the
ferret is, normally between 1' and 3'.  On reaching the run it is probably
just a case of grabbing the ferret and removing it along the rabbit.
 
If a rabbit bolts from an un-netted hole the lurcher will take off after it
and hopefully catch it before it dives down a neighbouring warren or the
rabbit swerves so much the dog is thrown off balance and it makes good its
escape.  I always thought that I would be upset by the sight of a dog
'coursing' a rabbit but to see a 'running dog' at full speed is a wonderful
sight - BTW the rabbit has a 50/50 chance of getting away so the odds ain't
too bad.
 
When we have enough rabbits from that warren all the 'bag' is peed and
legged. i.e. urine is expelled by downward stroking of the abdomen and on e
back leg is slit between the bone and tendons to allow the other foot to be
pushed through to make a loop so that the rabbits can be threaded onto a
carrying strap or spare purse net.  The rabbits are then carried over the
shoulder.  Ten rabbits plus ferrets, spade, nets etc can make a fair load to
carry over rough ground.
 
On reaching the car a hole will be dug and the rabbits paunched, I prefer to
leave this operation to Jack - the smell makes me want to throw up.  The
ferrets and dog are given some fresh liver as a snack as well as a drink of
water.  We will have a hot drink and some butties and then perhaps have
another go at hunting if the ferrets aren't tired.
 
On arriving home the ferrets are checked over to see if they have picked up
any ticks, fed and put to bed.  The rabbits will be placed in the freezer,
complete with fur as they will be used for feeding the ferrets.
 
For those of you who are interested in the outcome of the Countryside March
and MP's vote last Friday on Foster's Hunting with Dogs Bill - it didn't get
to the vote the pro-hunting MP's talked it out of time.  It was hilarious,
one MP was waffling on about rats, dogs, hunting rats with dogs and then
shooting them - I didn't know what he was talking about and I don't think he
did either.  Foster was nearly going bananas he got up at one point and said
that one MP had spoken for 40 minutes and not said anything that made sense
(which is nothing new!) - I was ROFL.
 
Sheila
Bolton Ferret Welfare & National Ferret Welfare Society Newsletter Editor
http://www.btinternet.com/~sheila/ferrets.htm (Last Update 3 March 1998)
Waiting at Rainbow Bridge: Jill & Deanna Troi
[Posted in FML issue 2244]