FIRST CATCH YOUR RABBIT
Posted: 27 Feb 2015, 07:32
FIRST CATCH YOUR RABBIT!
I was telling you the story about Ted Lawson and myself in the Greyhound Inn but it was pointed out to me by one of my mentors that a lot of people will not understand rabbit catching so I shall tell you the secrets.
Historically, rabbits were always a useful addition to the family diet. Before feudalism catching game was a common right but later became illegal, the lords wanted the game for their own sport and use. Draconian penalties were brought in but never stopped the practice, hunger is a powerful incentive! Over the years many methods were used, hunting with dogs and setting snares were both popular but we soon found that the most efficient method was to get some help from a small animal, the ferret, a close relation to stoats and weasels but specially bred and often pure white albinos.
Ferrets have a bad reputation for being a savage animal but this only happens when they are not kept properly. A ferret that sees you as a source of entertainment and food will bond like a dog and follow you around wherever you go. I was lucky enough to get hold of a good ferret. I can’t remember where I got the ferret from, I think it was from Marshall Duerden at Sough but it was a beauty. I called it Winnie because when I got it I thought it was a female. I later realised it was a dog ferret and so it became Winston but always called Winnie.
Anyone who has ever kept a ferret properly will know that they are very intelligent, clean and loyal. If you build the hutch with dark sleeping quarters and put a three inch hole in the floor covered with chicken wire next to the cage door where it is light they will do all their muck through the hole and all you need is a bucket underneath. Their smell is their own and you have to get to like it but if kept clean it isn’t oppressive. Winnie spent a lot of time in the house like any other family pet. I used to bathe him in the kitchen sink and he ran round to get dry and I can tell you that there is no more beautiful an animal in this world than a freshly bathed ferret!
I had Winnie for a long time and he grew bigger and bigger, I never had him on a lead or muzzled him and he always came back out of a warren, I never had to dig for him. When we went rabbiting I just used to put him down on the ground and let him sort out where the rabbits were. When he went to ground Ted and I would put a small purse net over every hole in sight and wait for the action, the rabbits would pop up into the nets and we would kill them. More rabbit catching next week!
A typical albino ferret.
I was telling you the story about Ted Lawson and myself in the Greyhound Inn but it was pointed out to me by one of my mentors that a lot of people will not understand rabbit catching so I shall tell you the secrets.
Historically, rabbits were always a useful addition to the family diet. Before feudalism catching game was a common right but later became illegal, the lords wanted the game for their own sport and use. Draconian penalties were brought in but never stopped the practice, hunger is a powerful incentive! Over the years many methods were used, hunting with dogs and setting snares were both popular but we soon found that the most efficient method was to get some help from a small animal, the ferret, a close relation to stoats and weasels but specially bred and often pure white albinos.
Ferrets have a bad reputation for being a savage animal but this only happens when they are not kept properly. A ferret that sees you as a source of entertainment and food will bond like a dog and follow you around wherever you go. I was lucky enough to get hold of a good ferret. I can’t remember where I got the ferret from, I think it was from Marshall Duerden at Sough but it was a beauty. I called it Winnie because when I got it I thought it was a female. I later realised it was a dog ferret and so it became Winston but always called Winnie.
Anyone who has ever kept a ferret properly will know that they are very intelligent, clean and loyal. If you build the hutch with dark sleeping quarters and put a three inch hole in the floor covered with chicken wire next to the cage door where it is light they will do all their muck through the hole and all you need is a bucket underneath. Their smell is their own and you have to get to like it but if kept clean it isn’t oppressive. Winnie spent a lot of time in the house like any other family pet. I used to bathe him in the kitchen sink and he ran round to get dry and I can tell you that there is no more beautiful an animal in this world than a freshly bathed ferret!
I had Winnie for a long time and he grew bigger and bigger, I never had him on a lead or muzzled him and he always came back out of a warren, I never had to dig for him. When we went rabbiting I just used to put him down on the ground and let him sort out where the rabbits were. When he went to ground Ted and I would put a small purse net over every hole in sight and wait for the action, the rabbits would pop up into the nets and we would kill them. More rabbit catching next week!
A typical albino ferret.