A Few Hours Ferreting

It had been a morning of emptying mole traps but the afternoon was free so, I decided that a couple of hours ferreting was in order.  Ferreting can be a great way to relax, it can also be a great way to immerse yourself in nature and your surroundings.  You can become almost one with the situation, your senses on high alert, listening for the slightest sound of thumping emanating from below ground coming from the mystical place that is, the rabbit’s warren.

I’d chosen a spot in the Yorkshire Dales, not too far from where I do a lot of mole control.

This was a spot I’d been on before so knew the potential.  However, I wasn’t after a huge haul, just to clear a few warrens on a couple of the fields.

Nodd and myself headed down the track to the fields I’d selected, I knew there were a couple of open warrens on these fields that would be ideal to ferret.  Upon arrival we noticed a couple of roe deer on the bank side in a thicket near one of the pheasant feeders.  This time of year many animals benefit by the gamekeeper’s routinely feeding.  Wheat that was originally destined for the pheasants provides energy and a valuable food source for voles, field mice, songbirds, deer, etc.

We got to setting a few purse nets, these were only two hole warrens so netting took no time but we netted several warrens in the locality to save a bit more time.

We then got the ferret collared.  I’d brought my little jill along, she’s a great worker and wont leave a warren unless she’s 100% sure it’s empty.

The ferret was entered, we stood back and listened for the sure sounds of rabbits being home, thumping.

We didn’t have to wait long, thump, thump, thump!  Thump, thump, thump!  The sound almost resembling rapid machine gun fire then silence… Boom! A rabbit bolts from the hole in a bid for freedom, only to be captured by the pursing of the net around him.

Nodd grabbed the rabbit and passing him to me for dispatch, proceeded to put another net over the hole.  Boom!  Again another rabbit bolts from the same hole in a bid to escape the predator below ground but as with it’s comrade before it, it’s captured in the swiftly pursing of the net.  Two bolts and two rabbits caught.

The ferret came out after the second rabbit, sniffing the air to catch the wind for the rabbit’s direction of travel.  I picked her up and entered her into a second hole.  She went straight back down on the scent of what was a third rabbit.  After several minutes of no sound or sighting I got the locator out to try find where she was.  A quick scan of the area revealed she was in a single position, not moving and 3 foot down.  There was only one thing for it, time to dig.

Nodd fetched the spade and I started digging.  After removing a foot of soil the locator was used again to make sure the ferret was still in the same spot, she was.  This confirmed she either had killed a rabbit underground or had one backed up in a stop end.

Prior to breaking through into the pipe I used my mole probe to check for the top of the pipe.

The last thing you want to do is cut straight into the pipe and through the ferret!  Using the probe will give you an idea how much soil needs removing before breaking through.  The top of the pipe is always higher than the ferret so when digging to a ferret 3 feet deep, you may only need to dig 2 foot 6 inches of soil.

Finally breaking through into the pipe and the ferret was clearly visible, although the rabbit wasn’t.

I used my spade to hold the rabbit in place while I removed the ferret, I then was able to reach right into the hole and remove the rabbit.

Rabbit removed, hole filled in and on to the next warren.

The next warren was much bigger, it’s a well used warren, although it doesn’t seem to hold great numbers of rabbits.  That said, we knew there was at least one rabbit in as we’d seen one go in as we approached.  Nodd got to netting some of the holes while I set a longnet around the entire warren.  The reason for the longnet was because some of the holes had multiple openings that were awkward to net individually.

Nets set and the ferret was entered.  The first rabbit bolted from an un-netted hole, making a dash for safety up the bank only to be caught in the longnet.  Nodd quickly went and dispatched it and as he was making good the net, another rabbit bolted from another uncovered hole on the opposite side of the warren.  Like a whippet, albeit a slightly rounder, insanely heavier one, Nodd ran over to make good the dispatch.

The ferret came out the warren and showed no interest in going back down so it was decided to call it a day as we had to be somewhere else, a 45 minute drive away.

We had 8 rabbits in the bag so not too bad for a couple of hours.

As we were leaving we spotted another warren on one of the silage fields.  I’d never seen this warren before and only noticed it this time as three rabbits were sitting on top.  I told Nodd I’d go back and ferret that warren, which I did.

The following day I went back alone to the field we’d seen the rabbits on.  There was a small warren by the gate I decided to ferret first.  I dropped a couple of purse nets  on the holes and popped the ferret in.  It wasn’t long till the first rabbit hit the net and was in the bag.  As I was dispatching it I had (so I thought) my foot in the hole to stop any other rabbits bolting.  I suddenly felt a thump on my backside, as I turned round I saw a rabbit bounce and run away.  I guess my foot wasn’t in the hole properly after all…  The ferret came out the hole so was gathered up and put back in her box.  I pulled up the nets and placed one on a single hole I’d found a little further into the field.  I was sure this wasn’t part of the gate warren.  I entered the ferret but she wasn’t interested so I caught her up and we moved on.  As we were making our way to the warren I’d originally come to ferret I noticed a rabbit on top which duly disappeared into the warren so at least I knew there was someone home.

I decided not to bother with purse nets on this warren, instead opting to surround it with the longnet.  It was only small, three holes but I do like the longnet.

The ferret was entered and almost immediately I could hear thumping then a rabbit bolted from one of the holes and straight into the net.  I went to dispatch it and while doing so a second rabbit hit the net, followed by a third!  This third rabbit managed to escape over the top of the net as the second rabbit was kicking around.  I managed to quickly dispatch it but just then a fourth rabbit hit the net, immediately followed by a fifth, sixth and seventh!!  I couldn’t believe it, I couldn’t keep up!  Rabbits five and seven managed to escape as I was dealing with everything at once.  I removed the four dead rabbits from the net and sat back, ready to pounce, although I thought the warren must’ve been empty, it only had 3 holes!  Just then, an eighth rabbit came out the warren, it sat on top for a second while pondering its next move.  Unfortunately for the rabbit, it was the wrong one as it hit the net to be caught and quickly dispatched by me.  Five rabbits from eight out of a three hole warren is pretty good going, plus the three that escaped will probably be home next time I ferret that warren.  In total I’d had 6 rabbits in less than thirty minutes and I’d ferreted the warren I’d come to do so I packed everything away and called it a day.