Sukie posted: >Beginning on page 70 of Bruce Alexander's mystery, _Jack, Knave, and >Fool_ are several pages describing ratting with ferrets and terriers >in an old London mansion. Years ago I read a murder mystery (I think) set in Victorian England where one sort of minor character had a ratting ferret that he used mainly in pub competitions where it competed against terriers for bets. You know, how many rats can a terrier kill in a certain amount of time. It seemed to practice on frogs in the basement a lot. I'm not sure how much, if any, research the author did. One thing I've never understood though about ratting with ferrets and terriers in particular is - how do they keep the terriers from killing the ferrets? That plus ferrets seem too large to fit down rat holes. In which case they would seem superfluous. I can see it working out less dangerously for the ferret in rabitting. Lurchers etc. are a bit more of a sighthound and a rabbit is quite a bit different from a ferret. And rabbit holes are big enough. Thanks for posting the book Sukie - was it good? Mary [Posted in FML 5489]