Tyla 3,179 Posted February 6, 2011 Report Share Posted February 6, 2011 Took a trip to a new permission of Blackstaffs today with him and his son. We had to ferret a hedge next to the big house first thing then we were free to wander around and explore and just bolt to the dogs. We got started about 8.30 and netted up with long nets. The hedge wasnt too thick and the rabbits bolted well. We got 5 from there and were done by the time herdwick arrived. We left the longnets behind and started up a hedgerow with the two lurchers running free. Blackstaffs Pearl has come on leaps and bounds since the beginning of the season and has the making of an excellent ferreting dog, very focussed and catching very well around the bury. Herdwicks Midge hasnt seen the ferrets since september, which became very apparent later, but is a very fast bitch with a good catch rate. The dogs had caught one each and missed one when disaster struck. Midge mistook my old polecat jill for a rabbit and the grabbed her and ran out into the field! The ferret was screeching and biting her face and i thought she'd had it but Midge spat her out as soon as she was hollered at and the jill seemed to be ok, very angry and scared but we caught her, checked her over and boxed her up with a liver to recover. The disgraced Midge got a bollocking and put on a slip. We continued working up the hedge, with just the two other ferrets, Pearl working loose and Midge off the slip. Both dogs made some good catches one particularly spectacular one in front of two ramblers who were very impressed. The woman even asked to stroke one of the ferrets afterwards! We did another couple of very big bank buries with hundreds of holes. We bolted alot more rabbits but the size of the buries and the terrain meant the dogs werent catching as well. We were on the verge of packing up when Tiny, the albino jill, killed to ground at about five foot. It was a hardish dig, roots clay etc, which took a long time but we retrieved the ferret and the rabbit. While we were digging we checked on Bracket, the polecat, she seemed fine and we showed her to Midge to re enforce the fact that ferrets are not fair gain. As soon as Bracket saw Midge she lauched at her quicker than i could stop her and took a chuck out of her nose. It sounds a bit like rough justice but wasnt good as i dont want a feud between these two as they will be working together alot. Bracket has never been aggressive with Dogs and i hope this hasnt changed it, i also dont want Midge hating ferrets. Hopefully she now knows they have a sharp end and they are off limits! We ended the day with a pint in the pub, 5 netted rabbits, 7 caught by the dogs, a furious bruised ferret and the need to do some more stock training with Midge! No pics from me as i forgot the camera but herdwick may put some up later. Thanks to Blackstaff for the invite and to Mrs Blackstaff for an excellent packed lunch Quote Link to post
KittleRox 2,147 Posted February 7, 2011 Report Share Posted February 7, 2011 I,d work on the dug with the ferrets mate,do it regular in the back garden rather than just when you go oot ferreting,not critising ,better sorting it now though before you end up with a dead ferret. Quote Link to post
rascal_2005 79 Posted February 7, 2011 Report Share Posted February 7, 2011 well done lads! Quote Link to post
Tyla 3,179 Posted February 7, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2011 I,d work on the dug with the ferrets mate,do it regular in the back garden rather than just when you go oot ferreting,not critising ,better sorting it now though before you end up with a dead ferret. Your not wrong mate. All mine learn about ferrets early on and see them daily and i've never had a problem with them. The bitch in question isnt mine so doesnt see them every day, but was also broken to ferrets as a puppy. I also think the problem is that, due to a lack of rabbits locally, shes done no ferreting this year but a fair bit of ratting. Either way she'll not be loose with my ferrets again til im 100% sure of her. Im very good friends with her herdwick so i'll take the ferrts over regularly now to get it sorted. I just hope its not turned my jill against all dogs as they've all worked very happily together til now. Quote Link to post
herdwick 52 Posted February 7, 2011 Report Share Posted February 7, 2011 Cant get on with this new fangled technology. Phones is for ringing people, cameras is for taking pictures. Tried taking pictures with my phone, of Tyla headfirst down the cavern we dug, but obviously did something wrong. Sorry lads, no pics from me either. Quote Link to post
blackstaff 488 Posted February 7, 2011 Report Share Posted February 7, 2011 (edited) We had a great day to, thanks for the good company guy's The ferret ordeal wasn't the nicest to witness BUT at least Bracket is alright, albeit a little bruised :black eye: Tyla you also managed to forget about a certain Herdwick slipping down the bank whilst trying to put the slip on the naughty dog I feel all 4 of us laughing made it easier to take though. Cheera for a cracking day out lads, looking foward to the next one Click on last 2 pic's for videos, not long but quite amusing, IMO My boy did record when we got the ferrret and rabbit out but my phone ran out of memory Msgs and old pics and vids now deleted Edited to say i didn't take my camra like normal as they gave for a fair amount of the day and didn't want to risk it. Gutted i didn't as we could of taken close pics ( Witin 30 yards ) of a Buzzard, a Kestral, Herdwick falling over, dogs running rabbits on open fields Next time i'll take it along with a waterproof bag, just in case ! Edited February 7, 2011 by blackstaff Quote Link to post
KittleRox 2,147 Posted February 8, 2011 Report Share Posted February 8, 2011 Looks like you,s had a laugh,good stuff Quote Link to post
grizz 0 Posted February 8, 2011 Report Share Posted February 8, 2011 excelent write up mate and ur dogs sound brilliant Quote Link to post
Tyla 3,179 Posted February 8, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 8, 2011 excelent write up mate and ur dogs sound brilliant Thanks, the dogs used on the day werent mine though so all credit goes to herdwick and blackstaff. The dogs did well on the rabbits but i could certainly have done without the ferret retrieve. Quote Link to post
rascal_2005 79 Posted February 8, 2011 Report Share Posted February 8, 2011 we having a meet this week? Quote Link to post
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