bad weather

[The one 8,479]

Cant get out till next friday hope the bloody rains stopped by then

[ferreterni 29]

Got a couple of woodland buries and some hedges, all up on high ground, might give them a crack tommorrow if it's not raining to much. All the low lying fields round me are flooded.

[theferreter 311]

went out friday morning its the first dry day weve had in about a week not a bad morning out 12 good rabbits outa 4 setts called it a day at 12 o clock now the rains back and its like the monsoon out there

[polecat93 4]

went out yesterday and was fine 2 out of 1 set and then the weather was horrible windy and wet but didnt stop us 11 more rabbits out of a big set could have had a hell of a lot more but got the ferret out and went after about half an hour

[comanche 3,012]

I spent three soggy days in a row last week ferreting a bank in the garden of a country house . Probably a hundred years worth of garden waste ,rubble and clay spoil had been dumped on top of the burrows . Horrible place to net-up and a ghastly place to dig. The only concellation was that it was a paid job . I arrived home friday evening in a rather bedraggled state with a van load of sodden gear to sort out and a desperate need for several cups of tea .

I'd barely had time to pop the ferrets back in their cage when the phone rung . My friend and his lad were planning on a couple of hours on the downs on Sunday . Heavy rain and high winds were fore-cast and the burrows they planned on tackling were pretty exposed . I obviously agreed to join them .

We parked in the farmyard,shouldered the gear and started the climb towards the proposed ferreting ground . We knew that if nothing else the day was going to be interesting as we'd only gone a few hundred yards when we came across a fox in one of the Keeper's Larson traps ! Required action was taken and we continued upward ,arriving at the burrows just as the wind picked up and the rain exploded . The dogs made a quick show of marking the best holes before sinking themselves out of the wind in the burrow mouths rather in the manner of sled dogs burying themselves into snow -holes .

We covered four small buries -maybe 130 holes in all ,dropped in the ferrets and with dripping noses moved back in anticipation of some hot bunny action . The action ,when it came was thankfully quite slow and steady . It's amazing how a pair of soggy combat trousers have a way of impeding any sort of quick movement -especially when one is teetering on a slippery hillside . There were a couple of shallow digs one of which I left to my oldest dog as she was in full excavator mode long before anyone had really considered that the ferret had been down long enought to consider reaching for a locator . The nets became heavy with water ,refusing to purse properly which led to my friend's Bedlington cross making a cracking catch of one rabbit that thought it had shown us a clean pair of heels . Apparently my own bitch also made a spectacularly successful assault on a fleeing bunny but I missed it because my glasses were covered in mud on the outside and misted-up on the inside.

About mid-day ,with 18 rabbits to show for our masochistic perceverence, the action stopped and the ferrets were all boxed. We briefly considered a likely-looking set of burrows a bit further up the hill,we looked at the next wave of grey clouds blundering towards us ,squeezed the water out of our nets ,gutted the rabbits and went back to my mates house for tea and toast.

As I type this my kitchen is steaming like a Chinese laundery with four days worth of so-called waterproof clothing a couple of tired dogs and rows of purse-nets being warmed by the fire .

I suppose I'd better come clean and admit that I also fell asleep in the lovely warm kitchen which is why I find myself awake at this ungodly hour!

Edited November 23, 2009 by comanche

[The one 8,479]

Good read Comanche ive started taking a pair of jogging trousers and socks and trainers in the car boot so ive something dry to wear comming home