A day out with the ferrets

Well a very early start this morning as the designated driver turned up in British Summer Time mode!!!! How many times over the last week have we been told to put our clocks back and to enjoy an extra hour in bed.......must pay more attention David ha ha

Anyway, we had time for a few coffees whilst we loaded the pickup with the usual bits and pieces, which meant I would be p**sing like a racehorse for the rest of the day!!

We got to the farm for just after 6.....the time I was supposed to be picked up.....and were shown to a few new warrens that had enlarged over the past months, this side of the farm gets badly flooded over the next few months and the rabbits tend to move on, so its best we hit it hard and make a dent.

A nice wall section for a change, the rabbits were rattling around in the walls in a bid for freedom

There has always been a fascination for me when it comes to ferreting walls, I think its the total randomness of where the rabbit will appear from!







 

The ferrets are easy to track using the Deben Ferret Finder, the MK3 has made our job so much easier

looking for the front door!!

As always, a dig is afoot.....and as usual theres as many stones underground as there is above!!

And for my next trick.........

.........Taa Daaaaa!!!

Oii whos nicked me dinner!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

Not exactly sure what these where, but I can't imagine they are tasty......time to dust off my Collins book of Mushrooms!!

Hope you enjoyed this, another post will follow tomorrow, 2 more warrens from this excellent days ferreting!! one of them has to be seen to be believed for its size.

Happy Hunting

A new permission

Its always nice to be given somewhere new to play!! And when someone mentioned the words Rabbits, Lifting and uncontrollable I started to salivate!!


This is what we found...........

The only words I could think were, Honeycomb and Crunchie!!!!






I think a night on the rifle or air rifle with the trusty lamp may be on the cards here, I just have a feeling its gonna be hard on the ferrets if we use them....the opportunity for hole hopping is phenomonol here, I'll let you know how we get on when we finally hit it hard!!

Happy Hunting

Another air rifle foray

Well I was short of a plan, work was slow, so the vehicle was loaded with various bits and pieces. Air gun on top just in case something popped up on the horizon.
The weathermen had finally got it right and the sun was shining.....for now!! When we come to this bit of land we always tend to have a look round all the collective permissions in the area, well it is a 1.5 hour trek!
We arrived around 8am and a good walk round revealed plenty of rabbits, I walked back to get the air rifle and was greeted by a large boom, the farmer at the back in all his wisdom had placed one of those gas scarers in the middle of his field.
I grabbed the rifle and had a stroll round of the field that was now devoid of any sort of wildlife at all, totally disheartened I set off back when I heard a familiar noise and a flap, I stopped and crouched down, looked in the direction of where the noise had been and there it was, I steadily lifted the S410 and scoped into the head.

 Tonights dinner was not going to be wrapped in cellophane after all!!







Further along one of the locals had come in for a closer look, there is nothing more special than creeping up close and personal to something that is naturally one of the most jumpiest of creatures!!

Beautiful!!






Happy hunting people

A day out with the air rifle

Well nothing much on this week so I decided to take my air rifle out for a bit of fun and scoping up, firstly to a spot where I could check my aim with the S410

Not much about at the moment, on this plot of land, Myxi has hit hard which is an awful shame, just seems like a waste of good meat to me!!







A few walks round the farmland and finally I have spotted something to test my scope out, a lone rabbit that looks healthy enough. Its very strange, and I don't know if its just me, but when I'm sat plinking a few pellets at paper targets, my breathing is fine and I don't shake at all, but once a rabbit is in my scope I can never seem to pull it all together till I repremand myself!!

But this time the rabbit is in my sight, and I have sorted myself out into a comfy position, checking for brambles and other spiky things that make shooting a problem, the bead is in the right place and the sound from the rifle is minimal, so surgical is this game since the invention of Pre-Charged Pneumatic Rifles.

The result.....

Tea will be served with buttery mash, carrots and peas, with a nice rich gravy!!














Happy Hunting

A ferrets new start

Its been a while since I took a fresh new ferret out with me, but today had a definate rabbit catching feel to it, so car loaded and ferret housed off we set.

 Its only a small warren so its perfect to try out a newbie!!






 The small jill was entered slowly, in she walked, and out she backed, then back in just a little further, and again out she backed.......but this time a whiff of rabbit must have stirred something in her mind, and off she shot.
With a pitter patter and a rumble the first rabbit hit the net, but the jill was nowhere to be seen, other things on her mind no doubt, then out of another hole she popped, quick sniff and roll around and straight back in!

A nice start for the little jill!!











Again the thumping of feet and then quiet, a quick check with the ferret finder and a depth of 2 foot is noted. Not a big dig and its always a good way to warm up!!
Shovel in and a foot down, check the depth and ferret is moving, this time rabbit hits net and it has a passenger, the ferret is firmly attached to it!!

Two in the bag, not a bad first trip!!







Well don't want to push her, so after gutting my soon to be lunch, her reward is the livers and kidney. Content is she and so am I, this is the start of a long and happy relationship between man and beast.

The thing is now, what do I call her, my other ferrets were named by my kids and followed a Harry Potter theme. We have Harry the Polecat and Albus Dumbledore, an Albino of course!! So what about Minerva McGonagall .............i'll let you decide!!