>From:    mark bethke <[log in to unmask]>
>
>... this guy was heavy , solid and strong .  Off to the hunt , the
>object was to eliminate a colony of hares that reside in the brambles
>between two fields of lettuce and they were causing much damage.
 
Thanks for the tale of your experience at going hunting with ferrets.
Sorry, I had to have a little chuckle - our hare lives above ground and
greyhounds, lurchers and other breeds of running dogs are used to hunt
them.  The ferrets were being used to flush rabbits from their burrows.
I'm hoping to go hunting next week - a farmer in North Yorkshire has a
rabbit problem and as he now has a riding stable on his farm he doesn't
want anyone shooting in case it spooks the horses.
 
>Now this is the domestication issue These ferrets come from domestic
>stock but with this diet and the lack of any human contact the domestic
>side is subdued and almost nonexistent thus what you have is a wild
>ferret , if the hob I held had a chance to he would have made a meal of
>my hand .
 
Mark went with ferreters of the "old school" - folk who believe that a
ferret has to be vicious to work.  My hunting companions and I only use
ferrets that can be handled with ease.  It's not unusual to see us with a
ferret on our shoulder whispering sweet nothings in our ears.  All these
ferrets are fed whole carcase so feeding raw flesh does not make a
carnivore vicious - just lack of handling.  If the chaps you went hunting
with had just spent a little more time with their ferrets they would have
soon be calm enough to be handled with ease.  Plus when they weren't
required for hunting they would, no doubt, have been kept in the cages
all day long with no exercise periods just going stir crazy.
 
I have had ferrets come to me at my small rescue centre who hadn't got a
clue when it came to playing.  Put them down in the middle of the room
and they just looked stunned... it would sometimes take weeks before they
learnt that they had room to bounce.  Believe me watching them do the
weasel war dance for the first time can bring tears to your eyes.
 
--
Sheila
Bolton Ferret Welfare
Web Site: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/ferreter/bolton.htm  last update 3
Apr 2002
Waiting at Rainbow Bridge:- Jill, Deanna Troi, Cameron, Carnath, Button,
Bill, Bobby, Jasper, Inga, Holly, Fergle, Amanda, Sparky, Daniel, Blackie,
Marvin, Claude, Bumper, Kurt, Tasha Yar, Larry, Lily, Ben, Fritz, Dax,
Kelley, McCoy, Brock, Snowy, Dumpling, Buddy, Stumpy, Treacle, Max,
Scrap, Vanessa, Sarek, Paw Paw & Badger
[Posted in FML issue 3939]