tiercel

The first bit of wind we have had for a while, so I thought I would give the nets a go. The idea was to do a copse that holds a few rabbits but I have never done it before. The ideal wind for it is northly, but with the wind being westerly I thought beggers cant be choosers, i'll give it a go. I only took 2 x 50 yd nets with me. The first drop I done was a short 50yd drop and an end set. Where the net is set in the same direction as the wind. I set out the net then banted the field back to the net, nothing a big fat zero. Not a good start to the season. I then walked another mile to do the copse, the approach was easy enough I was walking directly into the wind but once I got in the lea of the copse the wind dropped and everthing was very calm and still. I set the first net as an end set as I got near finishing running out the first net I heard two rabbits squealing in the net. A good sign I continued running out the second net around the corner of the copse and this was now a plumper with the wind blowing directly into the net. I set off to bant the field which had just been cut, as I got near the net I could hear the rabbits squealing. The first net held six rabbits and the net that was directly facing the wind only held two. Still a good start to the netting season.

I am in total agreement with you there. I have been told that so many times in my life that I actually believe it now

Angiostrongylus Vasorum or French heart worm as it is also known. Is not a true heart worm, in that it does not reside in the adult form in the heart. In the adult form it lives in the artery carrying blood to the lungs, there it grows blocking the artery causing the heart to work overtime pumping the blood to the lungs. The ultimate result of this is Congestive Heart Disease or CHD. The problem with this is that by the time the dog shows any symptoms (coughing, lethargy, and intolerance to exercise are all symptoms) it's too late. Most dogs with deep chests are more inclined to be affected earlier and are less likely to make a full recovery. From the time the worm enters the dogs blood stream it can take up to 12 months before the dog shows any symptoms. I do wonder having lost a dog to lung worm, what symptoms your dog was showing that prompted you to take the dog to the vet also what treatment the dog received? It may be possible that the wormer used to kill the worms caused worm lave to die in the blood vessels of the eye, therefore causing the blindness you describe. TC

Grand Funk Railroad... Live album recorded at Atlanta... double album paid £3 1970 ish. Into the sun Heartbreaker Mean Mistreater Enjoy I still do.

have a good un mate. From Philys Anne.

Twelve year old Beagle x W H Fox terrier retrieves Pheasants, Ducks, Pigeon, dummies.

SPOT ON!! best bit of advice I have seen given to budding ferreters.

The title was enough. I had nearly all the information I needed from that! You do not have a clue how dogs think. You may well be a wonderful parent and I am sure that you are. However, Dogs are not children, they are dogs. As such they think like their ancesters, they only understand pack mentality. The sooner you can grasp this the sooner you can get you dog into your pack. You really need help, you have been given some sound advice on this thread and proceeded to come up with one reason or another as to why it will not work. The only two questions you asked in your first post were. I have read all your posts on the way you are treating the dog, I will predict that you will be offering the dog up to anyone that is willing to take it, before very long. Please believe me when I tell you that, that dog, with your training methods is an "Accident" waiting to happen. I base my opinions on over 40 years of dog training and handling dogs. What needed to be said has been said. One thing to remember though is. If you make a mistake with a toy dog the worst you can get is a nip off the dog. You make a mistake with a serious dog and the consequences can be drastic. Make light of it if you will, it's no skin of my nose. I am offering you good advise here. If you choose not to heed it then, that’s your choice.

When are you going to get it into your head? It’s a dog not a child! As a dog it should be treated as a dog. You are really messing with the dog’s head to the extent that the dog is trying to fight every instinct in its body. The dog does not actually know its place in your pack. (That place by the way should be the lowest in the pecking order) I can see trouble ahead when "his best mate" tries to discipline him and the dog thinks that he has no right to. I honestly believe that people should have a proficiency course before being allowed to own a dog. Then perhaps we would not have so many children mauled by their "best friends". Ninety nine times out of a hundred when a dog bites, it is the owners fault. Dogs do not care where they are in the pecking order of the pack, but they have to know. Once they know their place, they are happy and content just to be members of the pack.

D2D Your spot on there I have been waiting for these since Febuary. TC

This is the end result. Deep fried rabbit and a couple of slices of Hovis, does not get much better And very nice they were too. Well worth the wait.

For a while now I have been hankering after a deep fried young rabbit. So this morning I took the GWP and a Jill that had come off-season and headed for the dunes. This was the first time this GWP had been ferreting, I have only had him a couple of months but he is keen. When I arrived at the area to be ferreted the little breeze that there was, was coming from the west. So I decided to walk to the eastern end of the area and work back into the wind. On the way down the dog spun back into the wind and stalked back up to a small 4 hole warren and marked it. I put the dog to sit netted up the warren and entered the ferret, it did not take long before I had a bolt and rabbit number one was in the net. At this point I had blown the stop whistle when the rabbit started squealing and the dog stayed where he was. All text book early season stuff. Another half a mile saw me where I had planned to turn around and work back into the wind. I sent the dog out ranging infront of me working in 50yd sweeps across the wind. It was not long before I saw him almost in slow motion stalking up to a warren, he started about 15 ft away from the warren and slowed as he got nearer, giving a positive point on the warren. It was only a two holer so I put the dog to sit on top of the dune, netted up and entered the ferret. Thirty seconds later out pops a rabbit into the net and the dog who had a full view of the net did not move. To say I was chuffed was an understatement ;D I picked the rabbit up and placed another net over the hole. It went quiet for a couple of minutes but the ferret was still down, so it was a fair bet that there were more rabbits at home. I went over the other side of the dune to check on the net there, and yes you have guessed right another rabbit bolted out of the same hole, this time the dog was on his own and as soon as the rabbit started squealing he run in and grabbed the rabbit in the net. To be fair to the dog he did not rag the rabbit but merely held it. But he was left in no doubt that he should not do that again. Off we went again, we had not gone 100 yards when he started the slow motion walk again, this time I got a photo of it, if you can call it a photo, the dial had moved on the top of the camera and I had not noticed. (David Bailey ever so much NOT.) I must be honest here I have never seen a dog do this slow walk and then a point before, but I like it. It does say something about the breeds sense of smell and their ability to pick up a scent from a warren up to 15 ft away. Ever since I seen my first GWP working I was sold on the breed, it seems as if there is nothing they can't do, and what ever they do, they do do well. Sorry I digress. This warren was quite a large one for me to work on my own, but I thought do this one and call it a day. The warren was in a bank and covered an area of approx 35yds in diameter. When I netted it up I had used 14 nets, so not a lot of holes but well spread out. I entered the ferret in the hole that the dog had marked and she went straight down, (always a good sign) only to appear at the bottom of the bank within a couple of minutes. Before I could get to her, she went back down of her own accord. About 5 minutes later the first rabbit bolted, closely followed a couple of minutes later by a second, both ignored by the dog despite the squealing when they were in the nets. (result) This was turning into a very good day and with the ferret still down, the prospect of more rabbits to come. But they say pride come before a fall. I do not know how many rabbits were still in the warren, one thing is for sure they did not want to bolt. For 45 minutes I watched the ferret poping out of one hole or another, only to go straight back to ground before I could get hold of her. Eventually I caught hold of her and put her back in the box and headed for home. I did try to get a pic of the ferret, dog and rabbits together but the batteries had died on the camera. On top of that I had forgotten my knife so could not gut the rabbits. But all in all a great few hours out. And 2 of the rabbits are ready to cure my itch for a deep fried rabbit evening meal. TC

Tuck, Do not blame yourself, you have raised the other two with no problems. It happens, some take a lot longer to learn others will never learn at all. I had one jill in the past that I could not do anything with. But on the whole, most respond well to good treatment. You saying about milk in your hand reminded me of an old ferreter who told me "whenever you have a new ferret spit on your hand and let it drink it, it gets used to you and will never bite." Tried it and the very first ferret I tried it on, stuck his teeth through my thumb. That was an old wives tale if ever there was one.

Tuck, Even though I have kept ferrets for over 40 years. I am not that well up on ferret psychology, to be honest I don't think that there are many people that are. Those that do know are keeping quiet. I can only guess at the cause of the ferret’s temperament, (if anyone knows for certain please let me know) I would put it down to youthful exuberance. Add the fact that he is growing and does not know that (what he sees as playing) is over the top. Ferrets are pretty basic creatures they seem to respond as how they are treated. i.e. Treated with kindness and sympathy they mostly respond by being quiet and biddable. However, treated with contempt and distain they seem to react the same. That said, there is always the odd one that no one seems to be able to do anything with. The way I see it you have two choices either put him in a hutch on his own for the time that you are on holiday, and then give him a lot of time when you get home. Or euthanase the ferret now.

Tuck, I have seen the replies you have had on another site that you have posted about this problem on. My advice to you would be to get another cage for the ferret, for the time that you are on holiday. That way he can be kept in isolation and can be fed without the young boy coming to any harm. Failing that, you can dig a pit exactly 2ft deep and exactly 18" square and bury him in it.

Unfortunately FM there is a flaw in your argument. For them to sit the papers that you have to sit, they will have to have had the same education that you have had for the last four years. Personally I do not think that the exams are getting easier, I think that the pupils are getting better coaching in passing exams. That said, with a 39% increase in the last 10 years then it must follow that more pupils are either working harder or getting better coaching. The exams can only be set on the work that the pupil has done. After all, all that exams show is that you have the ability to absorb information, retain that information and produce it when required.

@ £19.99 a new DVD is good value. Try taking the kids to the cinema to watch it for less. Plus you have the comfort of your living room to watch it in. All in all I would call that a cheap night.

Done....Good luck

Somebodys been down the Sker!!

It's a wind up, Taxidermist make them up, I have even seen them for sale on Fleabay.

Sorry george, I cannot agree with you, I am old eough to remember when digging to Badgers was legal. I did not agree with it then, I have seen nothing since to change my mind. However, I would like to add that if a set is infected with TB then the Badgers in that set should be humanely destroyed as a matter of course. My preferance would be for cage trap and shooting in the trap. Or even lamping with a centre fire rifle. for as has been said prieviously in this thread you can walk right up to a Badger in a lamplight, and they just do not know that you are there. Just my opinion. TC

This thread is a newer version of an older thread on here. I broached the subject with a local dairy farmer who has a lot of Badgers on his land. His take on the subject was. "I have no evidence of TB in my cattle, I must therefore assume that the Badgers on this farm are TB free. I would be against the cull of any Badgers on my land at the moment. As the repopulating Badgers may not be TB free." IMHO that is a sensible outlook he is not discounting the need for a cull should it arise. However, he is astute enough to know when to "leave well alone". TC

Sense at last!!! Enjoy yourself

100% agree Zapp. It allows the ****** to play without upsetting other members. As you say a result TC

Not one person here has anything against humour, in all its forms. It seems though, that the majority of people would like it confined to humourous topics. Not injected into every topic at the whim of the few that think it is "cool" to destroy, hi-jack or otherwise disrupt a thread that they know nothing about, and could have no constructive imput too. TC