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Monday 24 October 2011

A fantastic four hours......

It has felt for many months now that I have not taken my ferreting seriously, I think with the warm weather and the excessive work duties it just didn't feel right.
Thankfully this weekend was to change all that, the weather was dry but with a coolish wind. David and myself had planned to visit a farm that for many years has not had the number of rabbits it has been used too, probably because of Myxi and bad weather!
We planned on a small visit, with just four ferrets, 2 of which had only been out once before, just a few purse nets and a long net.....just in case! Like I've said, it wasnt an all out ferreting frenzy, just a chance to get out and share a few hours alone on the hills.



Just looking round the first area we stopped at, the amount of fresh diggings was phenomenal, the rabbits had truly come back with a vengeance.
The farmer asked for them removing and thats what we were here to do.



As I was peering over a wall, a rabbit which had been sat motionless in this backsit in the grass darted off and away.....I wonder if it knew how lucky it had been!



These were the sort of open warrens we were dealing with, very rocky with a sandy earth holding it all together, these rabbits need to have very tough paws to dig in this environment.




A view out over the moors, this is why I enjoy so much being outdoors round these parts!!




It may look cloudy, but the wind was unseasonally warm.




Time to get netted up, a spare net was left for when the rabbits started piling out of what we hoped was there stage exit!!





As you can see, the soil here is very sandy, if it wasnt for the stone it would be a pleasure to dig.




..........and dig we did, not very deep, around 2 feet thats all.




And again, the rabbits didn't want to move,  they were quite content to plug there backs into stop ends



Whenever we open a warren, we are always careful to plug the whole with a stone and then backfill, this prevents a stopend being created, and a possible trap end for the ferret.





A Small Tortoiseshell was sheltering from the wind in one of the rabbit holes, the bright sunshine was lovely and warm when it came out.




we'll give this hole a miss, it would be wrong to disturb such a magnificent but short lived creature.



As can be seen, this warren is big enough to require a longnet or two, with a scattering of pursenets for good measure.......



.........Thankfully the Bunny Bus isn't too far away, walking is such hard work at my age ;-)




David retrieving the first rabbit from the net, the ferret was still attached as it leapt from its hole!



Just a single hole in the middle of the field, but it still produced a rabbit.



David just entering  a ferret into a very shaly set of holes, these were 3 holes that on previous trips hadnt been here. It pays to look around when ferreting.




 I love walling, and collapsed walls always hold a rabbit or two, this one was no exception, we used the longnets down one side.......



........and purse nets above it, the rabbits had burrowed right under the access track, this would need back filling once emptied.




The truck is never far away, its great when farmers allow you to enter their fields with a vehicle, it means you can carry more gear than is usually possible.





A very contented 'Me', 3 rabbits from a stop end, I had to dig a second hole as I couldnt reach far enough in, after this photo was taken, another ferret was entered and another rabbit had pushed its way into the stop end!!




Another single hole in the middle of the field, this time nobody was home.




Its hard work all this fresh air and driving....as can be seen by Daves relaxed approach.........




...........until he spots a rabbit hitting the net, he set off like Daley Thompson.........




.......he was definately faster than a netted rabbit!!




the holes here all ran into each other, it was like a honeycomb





I had to take this picture, Dave doesn't do digging......but boy can he lean on a shovel ha ha



Daves dig resulted in a nice fat rabbit......






......which the ferret wasn't for giving up!!!



A great little catch here, Dave had spotted a hole within the wall, we entered the ferret by the yellow purse net, it went up and across, lots of knocking within the wall, and Daves lucky wall net resulted in a rabbit!!




Well worth another rest mate!!!!




End of day, 18 rabbits in the bag. A very nice result for four hours work.
A very happy farmer, and a freezer full of good wholesome rabbit meat.






Happy Hunting

Saturday 1 October 2011

Too Hot For Ferrets

What a day, the forecast was for hotter weather than we have experienced all week!! We loaded the truck with Purse Nets and Long Nets, a few boxes of Ferrets and lots of drinks for the ferreters and also the ferrets!!

It started off with one of the nicest sunrises I've seen in a long time




This was taken just before we picked Joe up, when they said it was going to be warm again......they weren't kidding!!!










When we got the nets set up we rested the ground to let the rabbits get there confidence back, when its warm the rabbits are less likely to bolt and digs would be frequent!










Just looking back at the photos we took reminds me of how gorgeous this land we have really is.












This banking right next to the river shows how the rabbit burrows increase the erosion of the land










And as expected a dig was to be the first rabbit from this set!!











Thankfully Joe had elected himself to nip back to the truck and grab the drinks....that we had all forgotten to bring!!










This shot shows the size of the last warren we did today, it is huge and requires a good few stop nets to avoid the dreaded hole jumpers!







The last thing we need are dead ferrets, so there collars are removed and they are placed at the waters edge, they can take a drink or even go for a swim, whatever, it all helps to cool there body temperature down, which is very important during warmer weather. Ferrets struggle to control there core temperature when its this hot.








On the way back home we stopped off to do a warren that just needed doing.....you know the type I mean, it wasn't planned but enough just isn't enough when it comes to ferreting!!





The end total was 16, sorry no shots of the rabbits, but as we caught them they were stashed away somewhere cool before gutting and loading. I can almost taste the delicious meals I will be making with these this week.

Happy Hunting.