Are you mad ?

[comanche 3,038]

I've recently aquired about 50 acres of new permission. As if the fact that it is right on my doorstep and in a lovely piece of very ancient countryside were'nt enough I have been given pretty much a free rein to deal with the rabbits "by any Legal method" .That's what it says on the bit of paper the lovely lady owner thrust into my grubby little hand .

 

On my first trip I was accompanied by my usual ferreting partner . The dear delicate fellow coming from the land of open Downland buries had a bit of trouble coming to terms with the overgrown hedges and rose thickets of my rough bit of Sussex but we made a reasonable haul which pleased the landowner .We then further ingratiated ourselves by skinning and jointing a couple of rabbits for her while small children belonging to the stable staff made a fuss of the ferrets .

Since then I've managed to slip in a few more visits and have steadfastly worked along a thickly-brambled fence-line towards what is refered to as the bonfire site . Some folk have queer ideas as to what is combustible .Imagine a pile of very big and damp tree-stumps partially covered with a few loads of local clay and topped with contorted reels of old sheep netting and tractor parts .It looked as though someone had learned the hard way that combining the Bessemer Process with the charcoal burners craft was a bit of a non-starter .

Anyway it was toward this edifice of mud,wood and wire that my ambitions fell. I knew it held rabbits. The dogs knew it held rabbits . The Landowner knew it held rabbits and so did her Father . It was he who upon hearing of my plans to tackle the place had uttered the encouraging words, " Are you mad?".

I guess I am . A bit anyway. I'm not without by wiles though. Knowing full well that I could not possibly cover every mishappen tunnel through the heap with purse-nets I concentrated on only netting the more obvious holes and runs. Some preparation was already in place .Even as I'd worked along the ajacent fence-line on my previous visits I'd had an eye for the future .After ferreting, the holes that I'd worked had been filled with soil apart from just a few in the area of the bonfire heap . These were covered with nets -the back-netting Joker was being played bigtime !.

A longnet was hurled about the place to provide a bit of extra insurance and the dogs placed on standbye . As a bit of an afterthought I popped a couple of ferrets into the jumble of debris ,crossed my fingers and crept back out of the way .

 

The ground rumbled ,bits of metal rattled and rabbits began to exit their fortress. Some were pursed conventional style while others were back-netted or found themselves kinked in the longnet. Two rabbits had obviously not read the rules. Distainfull of my carefully laid entrapments they unsportingly made a break for the only weak spot in my breastworks . I'd been unable to push a longnet pole very far through the rubble of a farm track and had propped it in place with concrete blocks and an old tyre . It did't work very well .... Luckily my old black bitch managed to reduce the escape quota by fifty percent .

 

Likewise my baby dog -who has come to foolishly trust my net-work a little too much- made a nifty move on another bunny that bit through the long net and was on the road to freedom. This was a welcome event as he is still a little soft -mouthed on loose rabbits and has been known to let them escape !.

Although quite a lot of work was involved it was a very pleasant and satisfying little adventure . Only one rabbit made clean its escape and more to the point I did'nt have to resort to tearing the heap of unholy debris apart looking for any wayward ferrets.

I can just image me standing there at dusk pondering my next move with a smug voice coming from behind me in the gloom .

"Told you you were mad !".

Edited February 19, 2011 by comanche

[auld salmon 28]

good read dont think i would of done the bonfire

[comanche 3,038]

good read dont think i would of done the bonfire

 

I sort of know what you mean but you know how some sixth sense tells you it will be fine.

 

Bit of backnetting.

 

and a bit of canine posing

Edited February 19, 2011 by comanche

[web22 27]

that's the kind of ferreting we love and loathe at the same time!sounds like you're getting on well with the ferreting and owners,nice little read there,good job you've got so many options...

[NEWKID 27,276]

good read that, you gotta be a little bit mad for this game

[Jamie m 668]

Good read what's with the tree is that some sort of paganistic ritual to the great fire heap of crap

[TOMO 26,441]

nice read that comanche,, you got a real gift with the pen

 

i like doing odd places like that, in fact theres the exact thing you discribe just down the lane from me.

 

just yesterday we did an inside floor of a stone barn, that was filled with crap, 2 nets on the outside wall of the barn,, and a big poke net, set hare gate net style across the door yes graet fun, those weird places

[blackstaff 488]

Thats a good write up there bud Keep up the good work mate, got to keep us sussex chaps on the rabbiting scene

[akton 15]

you have the makings of an author great write up you might even get that published mate

 

try sending it to http://www.thewarrenmag.com/ you will get a free book if it gets published

[darbo 4,776]

excellent read.

[The one 8,489]

Good read mate and it looks like you got a good few .

[Dazzam 239]

Brill read!!!! Love the humour . A nice haul of rabbbits

[comanche 3,038]

Good read what's with the tree is that some sort of paganistic ritual to the great fire heap of crap

Ah .Now I do tend to get mocked by my mates over this sort of thing but you are not far off the truth .

Stuff I kill does'nt get lobbed casually behind me into the mud and the day's haul isn't carried back to the van crammed sweatily into an Ikea bag.

 

"Paganistic" might be a little off mark but I think if I ignored the linked aspects of respect for the quarry ,be it live or dead, and a certain almost spiritual approach to hunting I'd lose something. The sixth sense -the instinct comes in trade-off for giving that respect .

Feel free to take the pee now . I'm used to it !

 

Couple more piccies from the day .

Soft mouth is good but this is bordering on "catch and Release "!

Edited February 19, 2011 by comanche

[comanche 3,038]

nice read that comanche,, you got a real gift with the pen

 

i like doing odd places like that, in fact theres the exact thing you discribe just down the lane from me.

 

just yesterday we did an inside floor of a stone barn, that was filled with crap, 2 nets on the outside wall of the barn,, and a big poke net, set hare gate net style across the door yes graet fun, those weird places

Thanks for the comments. Funnily enough my Son in Law asked me to give him a hand last wednesday. I'm sure he only asked me because his locator had run out of batteries . Mind you a locator would have been of limited use as the situation was not unlike the one you describe . A garden had been newly rabbit-netted but there were still a few bunnies holed -up under a big summer-house and verandah. The purse-nets were set with a bit of spit and a prayer not to mention a few sticks to help keep them in place but we were pretty sure that any rabbit that did slip the nets would be picked up by the dog .

I wish I'd had a camera with me . The look on my dogs face as the bit of decking he was stationed on started to rattle like a drum underfoot was priceless. We ended up with three rabbits . A fourth slipped a net . With the dog on its tail it looked as if it would be caught against the rabbit fence . Instead it simply rocketted to freedom through a hole in the mesh . Although it made us feel a little amateurish it did at least serve to highlight a weakness in the brand new fencing . Someone's handy-man/gardener was in for a bit of light hearted ribbing !.

[Ideation 8,216]

Good do that matey, and nice write up! I do like hanging the bunnys on trees, keeps them safe and sound, and if your doing a lot and hanging them as you go, it's nice to look back through a woodland decorated with pagan style tree baubles. Doing those challenging places is always fun, but now you have done it once and not had any problems would you do it again? There's a similar spot on one of the places we go, had a couple of very good days on just the one set, but there is a mk3m collar 12 foot down there, behind some buried chain link fence that we never did get back, luckily the ferret managed to squeeze herself out of the collar. . . .