I don't know if anyone has clarified this or not, but in the UK rabbits are
pretty much pests - at least compared to in the US.
 
Rabbits have lost a lot of their natural predators in the UK.  I am sure
this has to do with long term deforestation as the land changed from woods
to open fields due to the agriculture needs of the population.
 
Because of this imbalance, rabbits tend to increase in population to the
point that they actually damage the land by "over grazing" plant life which
creates huge patches of land with no growth.  Many of these areas without
plant life can be subject to erosion and other long term soil damage.
 
Rabbits in the UK also create shallow warrens that are hazards to livestock
and farm equipment because they can collapse.  Animals and farm equipment
can be injured or damaged by the numerous entry/exit holes to warrens.
 
Rabbits in very large populations also can develop myxomatosis, nature's way
of controlling the population.  Not a pretty disease, as the rabbits suffer
from it for a time before dying and it is highly contagious within a
population of rabbits.
 
I know rabbits in New Zealand and Australia were introduced to those
countries and have become established to pest proportions.
 
Hunting rabbits with ferrets is a way to keep the population under control
in the UK in a safe way that does not involve poisons or the total
decimation of a warren.  Hunting is what the domestic ferret was developed
for in the first place - and those early ferrets probably fed themselves
and their owners pretty well.
 
Here in the US, besides vermin control, we really don't have too many
things for "working ferrets" to do.  We simply don't have the type of
rabbit population that becomes a nuisance, and not too many of us have
farms where our ferrets go to work in a pile of hay bales clearing out
rodents.
 
After reading Bob C's post on cockroaches, I'm sure some of our ferrets
get to do some indoor "vermin control" though :)
 
I don't think any less of my ferrets because most of their hunting involves
chasing down a wiffle ball, and killing it <g>, but I certainly admire the
folks in other countries who use their ferrets for hunting and also value
them as companions.
 
A great reference enjoy about hunting ferrets in the UK is a book called
"Working Ferrets" by Jackie Drakeford.  It is published by Swan Press in
the UK and could proably be ordered here.
 
I like the book because she presents the ferret as a companion - as well as
instructs how to develop them as working partners.  The photos of ferrets
having a great time in all aspects of hunting (even being dug out!) are
priceless.
 
There are also numerous resources on the Web for hunting ferrets.  Lots of
interesting things to read.
 
Everyone is entitled to their opinion.  I'm not saying that everyone who is
violently opposed to hunting with ferrets is WRONG, but perhaps they should
know a little bit more about the topic (and not forget the origins of our
precious fuzzbutts!) before developing an opinion.
 
Ann
And the 7 wiffle-ball hunting ferret-heads!
[Posted in FML issue 2246]