It seems like an age!!

It feels like years since I managed to get out and worry a few rabbits!! With everything happening at home Ive had no time to get out, we are in the baby season at the moment, the old addage of "No rabbiting in a month without an 'R' in it" still seems to work, but any month with a vowel in it at the moment would be more precise!!

Well Ive been rehousing the ferrets over the past month, with 2 deaths close by I thought I had a severe problem, so we quickly mated a couple of jills and are now awaiting the results. These are my 2 ferrets which died, Fez and Snowy, they were twin sisters who I picked up off a guy in Fezakerley in Liverpool, which is how Fez got her name, that was back in 2006, they were 2 year old then, so at 8 years old they had a good old innings.

The old hutch looked like this and it was great, but as always, I wanted a bit more, so I sat down with pictures of 3 friends sheds and asked them what they would change about theres if they could.

 The new ferret shed is the outcome of all the questions I asked, and I think it looks great, the bonus is it has been made from lots of freebie materials from work, Its clad in UPVc cladding and has a vinyl on the roof that should outlast me......we'll see!!

This was when I got the outer shell up and clad, and started building the internal hutches

This is the external run area, the bit that had the sheet over it on the photo above, since this photo it has been hinged and bolted with locks for security, the ferrets can access this through pipes connected to the internal hutches

This is the inside which has a 3rd section above being created for breeding and using as an area for sick ferrets

Its still ongoing and i'll get a few snapshots up when its finished,whilst writing this ive just had a phonecall to attend a rat and rabbit problem locally, so watch out for the write up this weekend, thanks for your patience and hopefully we can get this blog back on track.

Chris

p.s I must thank Dave who popped round and gave me a days labour on the cladding, top bloke and hopefully he's up for a bit of ratting this week!

Another day.....another rabbit!!

Another local farm gave us a call to come and sort out a rabbit problem he was having.........and always willing to help.......off we went!!

Whenever you set long nets you pray that the local cattle population don't get inquisitive and wander to close.

we brought a good mixture of Male and Female ferrets, not knowing what sort of warrens we were going to come across

Its great to watch them being their normal inquisitive selfs, they could definately smell the rabbits scent.

Dave with the first dig of the day.....there was to be a few of these!!

Here we see one of the rabbits being pinned into a stop end by 2 ferrets.

A quick pull and twist and the rabbit is no more, it would be unfair for the animal to suffer.

Then back in to check, and another is further along the tube.

Surely there can't be another in the stop end!!

Nope, two was our lot from here

Here Im just checking a 2 holer we found in the middle of the field, no-one home.....but its better to check.

A cracking warren, that ran a good way along this bank, a few digs would be necessary here.

You dont realise the noise these things make until your stood next to one!

 The fresh diggings were a mix of shale and soil, there are a lot of old mines round these parts and the thought of your ferret dropping into an old shaft never to be seen again can be quite scary!

A squeal is heard by Dave........

And close to the surface a rabbit is trapped........

 ...........and another...........

and then another.........4 came out of this hole!!

and then a purse net is placed over the top so as we dont backfill and create a trap for the ferrets.

The fenceline here was quite well worked by the rabbits, the smell was very strong.

2 holes right next to each other, its better to use 2 nets than 1 net stretched over both, this saves on escapees.

Dave monitoring (resting more like) the other side of the fence

Thankfully one more made 11, not a high number but still a good day and a happy farmer.........and Ive just been told theres more permission coming off the back of this one!!






Happy Hunting.

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