feral ferrets

[TOMO 26,173]

i think its down to a lack of gamekeeping,, theres 2 keepers in my village both partimers, on a syndicate shoot,, ive never seen a tunnel trap, round here. i have beeted on 3 other local shoots,, only one did any trapping.

 

so if you have escapees and a small wild population of polcats,,as we know there are releases of wild polcats in some parts, there bound to breed,, so theres proberbly a growing population of ferral x polcats out there.

 

m42, a42,,, i often go down that duel carrigeway/motorway in the summer and like the other guy i always see road casualtys down there there always polcat coloured,,, same when ive been down through oxfordhire/wiltshire always see one or 2

[torchey 1,328]

i think its down to a lack of gamekeeping,, theres 2 keepers in my village both partimers, on a syndicate shoot,, ive never seen a tunnel trap, round here. i have beeted on 3 other local shoots,, only one did any trapping.

 

so if you have escapees and a small wild population of polcats,,as we know there are releases of wild polcats in some parts, there bound to breed,, so theres proberbly a growing population of ferral x polcats out there.

 

m42, a42,,, i often go down that duel carrigeway/motorway in the summer and like the other guy i always see road casualtys down there there always polcat coloured,,, same when ive been down through oxfordhire/wiltshire always see one or 2

i was wondering whether they have done a release down here haven,t heard of one though..

[rob190364 2,594]

I saw a big poley in the road yesterday near my house.

 

Was wondering wether it was a pet escaped/lost or if it was feral.

 

Never seen one before.

if you see one go and try and catch it, as in just you (not dogs)....if it's an escapee or one lost ferreting you might catch it, if it's wild you won't

[rob190364 2,594]

I saw a big poley in the road yesterday near my house.

 

Was wondering wether it was a pet escaped/lost or if it was feral.

 

Never seen one before.

if you see one go and try and catch it, as in just you (not dogs)....if it's an escapee or one lost ferreting you might catch it, if it's wild you won't

but if you do....you're f'cked!!

[micky 3,325]

i catch a couple every year in traps set for rabbits,near my house there are a lot nice looking sets ,though they look good and theres allways a lot of rabbits about, they are impossible to ferret,every year some of the local lads creep on and give it a go ,what they dont know is ,after two foot of top soil theres twenty foot of wire fencing,cars ,tin sheets ect,ferrets will get hooked up, tucked up or take a long time finding there way, out and then into a fenn or bodygrip thats been set in the fence,last year i caught one in a rabbit snare ,this one went to a mate in Norfolk and i have a doe out of the litter he bred off of her ,shes a good worker and so far this season shes bolted over a hundred rabbits.

[micky 3,325]

wrong picture

[PoCk0 40]

Saw a roadkill in ludford the other day, polecat it was

[torchey 1,328]

Saw a roadkill in ludford the other day, polecat it was

most of what are being seen are polecats down here,some big fuckers aswell

[Brimmer 220]

They were everywhere on our permission a few years ago, the keepers had caught 34 of them, we caught 3 on our travels, They had been building for several years, a few the year before turned into a lot the year after, the caused havoc, but luckily the cold winter near wiped them and the rabbits out.

Just been to the Isle Of Man recently, there were plenty over there on the roads at night, they use the roads for ease of moving about i think, why bushwhack when you can run the tarmac!

Even saw a poley and an albino running up the road together, that made me chuckle!

[torchey 1,328]

They were everywhere on our permission a few years ago, the keepers had caught 34 of them, we caught 3 on our travels, They had been building for several years, a few the year before turned into a lot the year after, the caused havoc, but luckily the cold winter near wiped them and the rabbits out.

Just been to the Isle Of Man recently, there were plenty over there on the roads at night, they use the roads for ease of moving about i think, why bushwhack when you can run the tarmac!

Even saw a poley and an albino running up the road together, that made me chuckle!

34 ,thats a lot to be caught,thats a fair population ,what sort of acreage ??

[BEARINATOR 2,868]

There was some released down wales (I think) a few years back, rare we see polecats running wild up here though

[rabbit tourmentor 29]

they need killing if you ask me

[torchey 1,328]

they need killing if you ask me

I do like me ferrets but i think too many ferals would hammer the wildlife population

[stroller 341]

we get the odd one, ive had one handed into me which was obviously a lost ferret and last year there was a truly wild one an albino i couldnt get anywhere near it

[Brimmer 220]

They were everywhere on our permission a few years ago, the keepers had caught 34 of them, we caught 3 on our travels, They had been building for several years, a few the year before turned into a lot the year after, the caused havoc, but luckily the cold winter near wiped them and the rabbits out.

Just been to the Isle Of Man recently, there were plenty over there on the roads at night, they use the roads for ease of moving about i think, why bushwhack when you can run the tarmac!

Even saw a poley and an albino running up the road together, that made me chuckle!

34 ,thats a lot to be caught,thats a fair population ,what sort of acreage ??

On two large farms, the pheasant pens belonging to the shoot acted like magnets to them, but they were widespread through the land though, the large warrens were hit the worst, you could tell the numbers were down. Sometimes you would find a pile of shoite outside the big warrens, they were living in them just picking off the residents as they needed, We even bolted as many as 4 rabbits out of a warren that a feral was in residence in, they give your ferrets hell when they square up to them, never bolted one yet, they stay put and hold there ground.

Tried taming 2 of them years ago, one was in the bottom of a drop box, a big spitting albino hob, had to pin him down with a forked stick, then stick my hand down and grab it round its big massive neck, people dont realise how strong the ferals are, they physically put our working ferret to shame.

he could not be handled, sulked and skulked around, tried killing any ferret you put with him, and in the end i did what i should have done the moment i first pulled him out of the drop box.

A few years later i pulled a poley jill out of a rockpile in the process of making a kill, it just froze when i got to it, scared shitless, took it home and caged it, but by the morning after it had just dropped dead. Saw sense after that, they are of no use whatsoever to anybody as a working animal, half handy at keeping rabbit numbers down, but will always hit anything they can, pheasants, chickens,

Any that cross our path now when we are in a position to do anything about it get dispatched. Shame really.

The 34 was just the pheasant keeper by the way, the moorland keeper had been busy as well!

 

Must have been raining hard that night!

 

A bog at the side of the traps had at least 6 others thrown in it, and this was on the moor edge!