Jack called round at one o'clock to see if I'd like to go ferreting for an hour or so. Quick change into camo gear, grab ferret box, nets and Kurt. We call at Jack's home whilst he collects his jill ferret, Lucy the whipp et, Tommy the lurcher and Sophie the minature poodle??? A couple of minutes drive and we're at the farm, fit Kurt with his locator collar, neither Jack or I cope our ferrets. IMHO anyone who copes (usesa muzzle) a ferret has no right to work or own ferrets, if the ferret meets a rat or a stropy buck rabbit it needs to be able to defend itself. Kurt is introduced at the top of the bank, the dogs are waiting patientlyat various holes so we know that someone is at home! Jack puts his jill in further along the bank. After about 20 minutes a rabbit makes a break,Lucy and Tommy give chase the rabbit doubles back and dives into a hole much to the disgust of the three dogs. Kurt looks a bit brassed off as well - if he could talk I feel sure he would be muttering something about"Stoopid dogs who couldn't catch a cold, and after all my work flushing the bunny!" 10 minutes later the same thing happens again, probably the same rabbit. BTW we couldn't really use purse nets as the bank was a rubbish tip, planks of wood, old fridges etc. that's why we were relying on the dogs catching the rabbits. No signs of myxy - myxomatosis a disease where the rabbit ends up blind, deaf, unable to eat of defecate it suffers a lingering death due to starvation - introduced into England in the early 50's. It was first introduced into France from South America by a French doctor who thought it was the just the thing to control rabbits on his estate!!! What a wally (I'm being polite) - a year later the first cases were being reported in England, 99 per cent of the rabbit population died as a result. The only rabbits that survived were the warren outcasts who were living above ground. Sheila [log in to unmask] http://www.btinternet.com/~sheila/ferrets.htm Bolton Ferret Welfare & Newsletter Editor of the National Ferret Welfare Society of the UK The opinions expressed by me are not necessarily those of the NFWS [Posted in FML issue 1818]