First look/go at ferreting

[The Duncan]

Hi fellow PWers!

 

Yesterday I had the pleasure of 308daves company, instruction on ferreting and assistance in clearing an awkward warren on one of my longest standing permissions.

Dave turned up precisely at 12.30 at my home in North Bucks, complete with 4 ferrets, purse nets and Escort 10 shot semi-auto to cover all bases.

After a spot of lunch with the boys (nick and jake), we headed 1/4 mile up the road to have a go at the bunnies at the Manor House on the hill.

The owner, as I told Dave, had been born into money, married well and divorced better. Nice enough lady and possibly becoming more eccentric as she matures.

 

The first and most important warren to hit was 30 yards from the house and was split by a hedge and 2 juxtaposed fences, as well as a rabbit fence.

Dave spotted that there weren't many signs of recent activity

I'd deliberately left this particular shoot alone for a few weeks/months to allow populations to rest a bit. From what we saw yesterday, the rest period needs extending (apart from close in near the house - that is the zero tolerance zone!).

Having recce'd the warren and identified pretty much all the holes and 'bolt' holes, we netted them all and it was action time - bring on the gills!

After the gills entered the warren, we waited, watching the holes/nets and stood ready to grab bunnies as they erupted from the earth.

There would be no shooting at bolting bunnies here - too close to the house.

It took a while, but first a half grown coneymanaged to slip past the net to get out of the warren, saw me and dove down another hole (miraculously dodging the net again!).

A minute later the squeal of a young rabbit suggested it had been 'done' by a gill.

A few minutes later, the 'girls' were obviously nearly finished their sweep of all the levels as a large, handsome buck launched out of a hole, half under the 3 railed fence and was trussed up tight in the purse net.

Dave was on it and showed how to disentangle the animal, hold by back legs and despatch with a smart blow from a no-messing priest - very posh too! Made with great attention to detail and artistry out of a bit of broom handle . Such craftsmanship .

They did the job perfectly though and the bunny new nothing.

A doe was next in the net, hotly pursued by the lithe and tiny best gill that Dave has and after that, nothing more from the warren. Empty.

The gills completed their sweep and reported back that the place was empty.

Strange!

This warren is decades old and always had a healthy population which was normally quite difficult to manage the numbers therein effectively.

We tried several other warrens over the next few hours and we saw loads of signs of foxes digging for worms/grubs (run out of rabbits to eat?) and almost no fresh rabbit droppings until very close to the end of the day, in the furthest field.

This time we stood covering a hedgeline with shotguns after the next volunteer was lowered into the hole.

A bunny appeared shortly in front of me but concealed by grasses/brambles, but Dave could see it and decisively blatted the rabbit in short order.

A second rabbit bolted and we gave it 4 carts between us and no bunny! As Dave put it "We sent a lot of lead after it." Indeed we did. Sadly, none of it where it was needed it would appear

One more sight for the day: a stoat super warren? As many as 50 (? do you reckon Dave?) stoat holes in a patch and more a few yards away. No wonder with all the fox sign and an army of stoats at large that rabbits were in very, very short supply on this patch.

 

So the 'bring-home tally' for the afternoon may only have been 3 rabbits, but the fun of the ferret mission was massive.

Plus, the Landowner will be pleased her plants will be safer now the problem warren is (apparently) completely empty.

 

Jake has now changed his mind about wanting a pet guinea pig: he wants a ferret!

 

So a big thanks to 308Dave (or Chris, as I kept wanting to call him - No idea why! ) for a fab afternoon: lunch with good company, great sunny, warm weather, new experiences, some laughs and the expectation of many more hunting trips to come. I can't think of a much better way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

 

Duncan

Edited March 13, 2011 by The Duncan