Got Lazy

[bshadle 5]

Nice morning - 50 degrees and 50% humidity to start the day. A little rain earlier this week softened the soil. Drove past a few permissions to check conditions and shoot the breeze with the owners, then off to the orchard.

 

Started at the back and found quite a few holes that looked interesting to me, but not to Dot. Eventually worked our way to the sette that stymied us last week. Not this week though!

 

Dot picked the eye she liked, and was in working in seconds. Barking and moving, she eventually settled twelve feet in and two feet down. Quick dig opened to clicking teeth and a ‘hog’s head poking from a stop end, Dot wisely just out of range of the darting snaps.

 

Decided to go for a snare rather than opening further and dispatching in the hole with the bar. Tied Dot far enough back that her noise wasn’t threatening, drove the bar into the tube behind the ‘hog and rattled it to convince him forward was better than backward, and pulled tight. A short struggle had him out of the hole, and a quick dispatch with the yoho ended it.

 

Backfilled, and back to the truck for the ten minute drive home. Ran into the owners along the way and stopped long enough to let ‘em know how it worked out. One less ‘hog and two more happy farmers - a good morning.

 

First sighting

 

 

A successful snare

 

 

Yeah, I done that

 

 

And this is the end you bite

 

[Squirrel_Basher 17,100]

Nice one mate .Keep these posts coming .

[bshadle 5]

Thanks. Be happy to keep 'em coming as long as the dog and quarry cooperate.

 

Probably be taking a break from the terriers in a few weeks though as our other hunting seasons are starting up. My brother's already p*ssed I skipped opening day archery hunting for deer with him this morning.

[Squirrel_Basher 17,100]

You boys dont know your born .

[harrycatcat 31]

Call me thick but what is a hog. Can you eat it ? (it looks a big f*cker) what damage do they do ? Are they aggressive ?

[trappa 518]

i was thinking that. What is it ? and is it edible??

[bshadle 5]

i was thinking that. What is it ? and is it edible??

Groundhog, woodchuck, whistlepig, Grundsaudaag in our local Pa. Dutch dialect.

 

http://www.pgc.state.pa.us/pgc/cwp/view.as...58&q=150839

 

It's a large rodent that constructs most of the earth dens in this part of the country. Farmers hate 'em because they have a voracious appetite and destroy crops. Their dens can collapse under farm equipment damaging the equipment and injuring the operators, and livestock can injure themselves stepping in the holes. OTOH, fox, raccoon, possum, rabbit and other animals use their dens for shelter, especially in the winter.

 

They can be nasty with their sharp incisors, giving a dog a terrible slice if it doesn't know (or learn quickly) to bark at the biting end and bite at the sh*tting end. Officially, a 12 - 15 pound one is big but I've taken 'em well over 20 pounds already, especially late in the fall when they've put on weight for hibernation. Didn't weigh the one in the picture, but estimate it at about 10 pounds. I guess the closest thing to compare 'em to over there is imagining what a challenge it would be for a dog to take on a 10 pound rat in an underground den.

 

They're edible, though few people here eat them nowadays. Used to be much more common in the past. Smaller ones, under 6 pounds or so taste a lot like rabbit and can be used in just about any recipe you'd use for rabbit. When they get larger they get tough and gamey tasting. They have scent glands in the pits of their forelegs and the small of their back that needs to be removed carefully at any age.

[harrycatcat 31]

Thanks for that, they sound really nasty feckers.