first ferreting foray of the winter

muntjac · first ferreting foray of the winter

ok so as i said i went on my first ferreting foray this morning arrriving by about 9 am at southwold .we set up on my favorite bury ( collection of rabbit holes) putting 46 purse nets down into the hard ground made my palms sore , taking about 35 mins between both myself and james my shooting mate we sat back to settle down for a quick cup of tea, then ferrets in we sat for a further 15 mins and then the first tell tale signs of rabbits being at home short thumps on the bottom of the hole walls .and up goes my dogs ears and she starts to shake then the first of the rabbits hit the nets .action was furios for about about the next 10 mins as 7 rabbits hit the nets .poor brook was holding onto one as the net peg pulled out of the ground .then silence as the pace settled down to be a tad tedios as we waited for the next bit of action . non came so we had to locate the ferrets .the radio tracking collars soon showed a signal as my locator beeped .shortening the range i had the ferret at about 18 inches down and stuck with a rabbit no doubt having killed and in the process of having a quick feed . digging it out took no more than 5 mins and another rabbit was in hand , finding the other ferret was easier as it came to the surface with a smattering of blood on its nose and fur in its claws .not wanting to leave a rabbit behind i put the ferret i had dug back down the hole the second had vacated and within a minute it to was stuck to the rabbit, digging this time was not even a spit as it collapes the tunnel on top of both the ferret and rabbit .removing both james started to pick up nets as i put the rabbits on top of my lanny bonnet to cool .9 rabbits was an excellent start to the day .flocksof geese and teal flew over our heads on thier way inland to the marshes at the harbour end .wishing i had a shotgun with me as they flew well withing range honking and whistling as they went over, moving onto the second bury of the day we set only 11 nets this time and sat back again to wait . a small terrier approached us and at that moment the ferret decided to make an appearance .james ran to protect the ferret as the owners hurled abuse at him . what the hell you doing there .. ferreting i replied politly " i can get you done for parking your car there ,your not allowed to " telling this man that i was allowed to park anytime anywhere on the sand dunes as i was working for the council ," what you killing the rabbits for they dont do no harm ?" to prevent them eroding the beach i replid and leaving holes for people to fall down and break thier ankles etc . now watching thier terrier sh*t on the grass and they walking on as they took no notice . the man said your useless lot i am reporting you for parking and being cruel to animals . i replied politly .well then i am now taking the registration number of your pajero and reporting you for allowing your dog to chit and you not clear it up .as being an employee on contract from waveney council i am entitled to do ,, fffffff off u murdering bbbb, was his reply. james then turned and said , im guessing you dont come from around here he asked ,.i was born in leeds the man replied . james then said figures if you had been born here you would be more inclined to take care of the place .and clean ya dog cr*p up. here endeth the conversation .. so in the time we had argued with the chap we hadnt noticed a rabbit had come out and run back in another hole back netting itself ,, good job brook was about . taking the rabbit from the net i necked it as the owners of the terrier just happened to be driving past .. so now that was ten rabbits and an argument in the bag // taking our lunch break we sat and watched the birds moving around on the marshes .. lunch over down onto the caravan site for a little bit of real easy ferreting bl**dy idiot who said that? . we set some 60 nets and dropping 5 ferrets in , the proverbial hit the fan as 13 rabbits came in 2 s and 3s / we ran ourselves ragged taking rabbits from nets putting nets back over the holes .poor brook was trying to tether one while grabbing another . by the time the action finished this time 17 rabbits had been accounted for .all was quiet as we grabbed a cuppa . now it was to quiet so out came the locator again ..oh hell as the locator found the pair of ferrets together some 8 ft down in sand and gravel. banging on the ground a few hard slaps from my steel one piece spade they moved no where . digging was hard and slow moving about a 1/4ton of sand and gravel and trying to find the exact location of the ferrets .... """"" the buggers had taken to dragging the rabbit around up and down the tunnel """. some 40 mins later we had the first ferret to hand as the second was holding tight onto a rabbits backside in a stop ( a tunnel that runs so far and then stops blank ) the rabbit had swelled its body out to prevent the ferret from getting to the front end and killing it so i had to wiggle my fingers under it to grab back legs . taking it out i killed it quickly .checking the hole i found another as a bonus this was quickly killed and we called it a day packing up took about 35 mins as then we dug a hole for the rabbits to be paunched into . 29 rabbits was a good days outing . the layers of thick creamy fat around the kidneys and spines of the bunnies put a big smile on our faces as these rabbits from southwold we cherish getting as the taste of them with the fat is a delight to eat .not many rabbits i kill in the course of a year cause me to smack my lips as these do .so then home we went .a fresh hot cuppa in my pint pot the rabbits hung to cool properly in the larder now sitting eating a great bowl of shackles and some crusty bread i can rest after a good day out with my mate and the dog. looking forward to next time
Very Happy

the ferreting that is not the wassuck from leeds Laughing

this may look better for a touch of secretarial skill ? hint Wink

Leonie2

hahaha, you won't get any secretarial skill around here Laughing

I hate it when people don't clean up after their dogs, really annoys me that does. Think you need to train your ferrets to come when you whistle or something, would make it a lot easier for you Wink

Haize

Oh dear Muntjac, I'm going to have to word process that, or wait until I'm feeling more able to concentrate to read that! I'm a bit busy right at this second to offer secretarial skills though Confused