mel b3 Posted November 3, 2005 Report Share Posted November 3, 2005 hi fellas ,i could do with a bit of advice on how to start ferreting with a new (youngish)ferret,it's a young jill that i found on a farm a couple of months ago ,it had a bad back injury ,it was covered in ticks and had what appeared to be 2 broken back legs,as is normal on this farm the farmers young children made me promise to nurse it back to health (being a soft touch i regularly have to bring back mixy rabbits and birds with broken wings etc ) anyway back to the point , it's made a miraculous recovery with the help of mrs melb and i'd like to use it to bolt rabbits to the shotgun , where do i start ? , can i just take it to a bury and put it into a hole or do i need to start a training regime with dead rabbits on string and drainpipes, i'm not totally new to ferreting but sadly the old fella that i used to do a bit of ferreting with has recently passed away and i don't know how to start from scratch.thanks in anticipation fellas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henry c Posted November 3, 2005 Report Share Posted November 3, 2005 i've only ever had one ferret (a polcat hob) so dont know loads, but i used to just take it to a hole and pop it it the entrance, the ferret did the rest. i believe they have natural instinct to flush. hope this helps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cranfield Posted November 3, 2005 Report Share Posted November 3, 2005 Take a few nets and find a small earth with just a few holes, that would be easy to dig if necessary. Put the jill down near the hole and let her make her own way in, never push them down the hole. I wouldn't take a gun as IMO, the sound of gunshots can spook the rabbits and make them reluctant to bolt. You need an experienced and fit ferret to shift reluctant rabbits.................or a spade. I have never had good luck with "found" ferrets and for many years I have passed them on to other people as pets. They are often ferrets that have laid up and been left, or non workers that have been dumped. I hope you have better luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mel b3 Posted November 4, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 4, 2005 thanks for the advise guys ,it looks like i'll be buying a few nets,i'm not a mad keen ferreter but i thought it might be a good way of getting an extra bit of sport,thanks again fellas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackthorn Posted November 4, 2005 Report Share Posted November 4, 2005 mel b3 knock your self up a false burry so the jill can learn to pass through the net without pulling it down plus it gives you somewhere to exercise her Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vermin Dropper Posted November 22, 2005 Report Share Posted November 22, 2005 Mel, the first thing I would like to think you would buy before putting them to ground is a ferret finder, some tubes in your ferret run will get them used to the whole tunnel thing and instinct should do the rest mate. some just tend to work better than others, I like to send inexperiensed ferrets in with more experiensed ones at first, it tends to give them a bit more of an idea of what they should be doing, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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