Sporting Gun UK – May 2019

36 SPORTING GUN M AY 2019 http://www.shootinguk.co.uk

A

farmercontactedmerecently

aboutsomerabbitproblems

hewasexperiencing.Nothing

unusualaboutthatasdealing

withrabbitproblemsismyjob.Herelateda

taleofdestructionandsaidthathewanted

hislandrabbit-proofed– preferably with

fencinganddropboxes.

I surveyedtheterritoryandsaidthatit

wasa straightforwardferretingjob,probably

nomorethana day ’swork.Thefarmerwas

unconvincedthatwouldworkduetothe

amountofcoverandinsistedona fence and

dropboxes,sothat ’swhathegot.

Itstruckmeasoddtoinsistonthisas

ferretingisa veryeffectivemethodofcontrol

inmostsituationsandoneI usedaily.It

would have been ideal for the task at hand.

Versatile

Forstarters,it isversatileandcanbeadapted

tosuitalmostanylocationandhabitat.That

said,therearecertainspotsI ferreteach

yearthatareanabsolutechorebutwiththe

correctequipmentanda handydogortwo,

resultsareeffective.Mostpeopleferretfor

sport and can pick their spots but I don’t get

thatprivilege.I havetowork methodically in

thepatchpresented.

Ferretingunderbuildingsiscommonand

bringswithit theriskofa wait.Thissituation

usuallyinvolvestheplacementofa longnet

ortwoaroundtheoutsideorofpursenets

onrunsandholes.A similarapproachworks

forferretingbramblepatchesandtheaid

ofa terriercanhelpspeedthings up and

encourage a rabbit to bolt.

Hidingplaces

I’veferreteda fairfewrabbitsfromold

stonewallsandmodernoneswithcavities.

A dogthatmarksrabbitsisa booninsuch

situations.Again,pursenetsandlongnets

areusedbuta dogthatisquickandhandy

enoughtograbanythatescapeishelpful.

Roadsidescanbenoisyplaces.Here,I

tendtousea mixtureofmethodsasit is

easytomissa ferretcomingoutofa hole.I

placeboltingcagesintheholes,astheystop

rabbitsfromescapingbuttheyalsorestrict

theferretfromleavingtheareaandpossibly

gettingsquashedontheroad.Inaddition,

I encircleanareawithlongnetstohelp

restricta ferret ’smovement,incase I don’t

noticethemleavethewarren.

Locatingdevicesarea mustwithany

ferretingoperation.Solarfarmscanbea

pain,however,asoftenthelocatersdon’t

workduetointerference,delaying matters

morethansomewhat.

Eachlocationhasitschallenges,but

theequipmentexiststomakemostjobs

achievable.I haveworkedinallsortsof

environmentswithferrets– adventureparks,

clifffacesand,ononeoccasion,evena pile

oftoiletsina barn.I kidyounot.Rabbitsdo

not‘playball’andliveintheeasiestplaces

toaccess,whichiswhytheyareoneofthe

ultimatesurvivors.Thereisnoescapingthe

factthatyouhavetogotowheretheyare.

But nothing ventured, nothing gained.

If in a hole, call for ferrets

Noneedtogetina stewaboutrabbitsandthedamagetheyinflictwhenthe

traditional method of dealing with them is also the most effective, saysEd Cook

CRAIG MCCANN

Netgain:aferret

isputtoworkin

an old stone wall

IN THE FIELD

Ferreting

“Aterriercan

helpspeed

thingsup and

encouragea

rabbit to bolt”