Very Satisfying Day

[krawnden 1,036]

Wasn't sure where to put this really, as it's a mix of ferreting and bushing, but plumped for here as the bushing was so rewarding.

 

Yesterday I was doing a paid rabbiting job in a 4 acre garden and adjoining field. The garden had masses of thickly planted borders, intricate box parterres etc, all of which took ages to methodically work through with the dogs at the start of the day to make sure any outlying rabbits were accounted for. Having worked the dogs through the whole garden I found the only spot that rabbits were living was in each of 5 large decorative circular log piles approx 12 - 15ft in diameter and 4 - 5 ft high -

 

 

I ferreted these and caught a total of 7 rabbits.

 

 

 

The terrier, already having spent ages working the rest of the garden, was constantly up and down the log piles and following progress from up above.

 

(Picures are too big to let me put them all in one post so will continue below.)

 

[krawnden 1,036]

 

 

 

[krawnden 1,036]

 

[boyo 1,398]

Nice one bud a bit more rewarding than a 2 1/2 hr walk with 1 myxi rabbit ?. Did all rabbits bolt into long net or did you have to dismantle log piles??

[krawnden 1,036]

 

By the time I was done with the log piles it was lunch time. After lunch I started on the field. I quickly discovered it was going to be nigh on impossible to ferret it on my own. At one end was an impenetrable bramble hedge about 20ft thick. I later discovered it used to be a farm track but has fallen into disuse and is now totally overgrown. This ran for about 500 - 600 yards and clearly held plenty of rabbits - the terrier dived straight into it and I could see occasional glimpses of rabbits being pushed about by her, but there was no way they were ever going to come out into the open.

 

Once I persuaded her out I started checking out the other hedges. There were 4 of them, parallel, each about 200 yards long and about 100 - 150 yards apart, and all running at right angles to the disused farm track. And all of them stopped about 20 yards before the disused track. None of them were anything like as thick, or high, but even so I could see they'd still be very awkward to ferret on my own. Almost immediately the terrier pushed one out of the first hedge that ran straight up to the disused track. No sooner had I called her out than the same thing happened again. Bollocks - two lost!

 

So I immediately put the terrier on the lead and took the ferrets back to the car. I could see a different tactic was called for. I then set a long net parallel to the disused track in the gap between it and the end of the first hedge. I then walked down to the far end of the first hedge and worked it back towards the long net. Once that was done I picked up the long net, repositioned it in the same way on the second hedge, walked to the far end and worked it up towards the long net. Rinse and repeat on all 4 stretches of hedge.

 

I caught 7 more by doing this. The terrier caught 3 in the hedges, the lurcher had 2 that she pushed into the open, and I got 2 in the longnet as they headed for sanctuary. But what was unbelievably satisfying - and which I've never had happen before - was that on 2 occasions the terrier found two rabbits together, and both occasions we caught both rabbits. The first time I heard the sudden smashing of dead undergrowth which only means one thing - the terrier's onto a rabbit. Almost immediately a rabbit shot out the far side of the hedge and about half a second later I heard one squealing in the middle of the hedge. The lurcher was - luckily - on the far side of the hedge at the time. I couldn't see any of the run, but just as the terrier was dragging her prize out of the hedge the lurcher appeared carrying the one he'd caught. I was chuffed to bits!

 

But it got even better. As soon as we started doing one of the other hedges the terrier marked something in it. It took her a while to find a way in as it was so thick at that point. Almost as soon as she'd squirmed in there was that smashing of dead undergrowth again, and 2 rabbits popped out of the far side of the hedge with the terrier in hot pursuit. This hedge had quite a few short gaps in it, so although the lurcher had initially been on my side of the hedge, there were several places where he was able to get through. I was then treated to the most exciting run at rabbits that I can remember, as they ran the full 200 yards of hedge back up towards the longnet. Both rabbits and dogs were dodging back and forth through the hedge. The rabbits were trying to stick either in or as close to the hedge as possible, but the terrier was running them so hard they had to keep popping out into the open where the lurcher had his chance, but they kept evading him and diving back towards the hedge, only to find the terrier snapping at their heels again. They were getting closer and closer to the longnet and I was running as fast as I could to keep up with it all. When they were about 40 yards from the net the lurcher struck at one just as the other ran clear of the hedge. The one he struck at ran back into the hedge while the other one ran out into the open behind him, striking out for the disused track at a 45 degree angle to the hedge. The lurcher wrenched himself round and ran the one in the open, which had managed to clear the end of the longnet by taking the 45 degree angle. He turned it before the track and it was now in the gap between the net and the track, so unless he had it we were going to lose it. But he scooped it up in fine style on the edge of the disused track.

 

Meanwhile the other rabbit, that had been turned back into the hedge by the lurcher, was under some serious pressure from the terrier, who was smashing through the hedge behind it and yelling her head off all the while. Just before it got to the net the rabbit popped out of the hedge again and ran the last few yards in the open. It hit the net at full tilt, followed about one second later by the terrier, who'd stuck to the pair of them like glue the full 200 yards of the hedge. Both rabbits were caught within about 3 or 4 seconds of each other. I was over the moon. It was an exhilarating run, and to catch them both was absolutely superb. And to top it all I was being paid for the privilege!

 

Although I've described it all in a few paragraphs, it was a long old day and by the end of it all 3 of us were knackered, especially the terrier. She never stopped all day, and expended an unbelievable amount of energy. I've seen her tired after a hard day before, but never anything like this. It's now 18 hours since we got back in the car to go and she's hardly moved since then!

 

Athough I only caught a small percentage of what was in the field, that, to the customer, was a bonus as their main priority was for me to clear the garden. And I'm pretty confident I achieved that. I've had days with plenty bigger bags, and days in far more spectacular surroundings, but as far as satisfaction from a day's rabbiting goes, this was about as rewarding as it gets. The dogs worked absolutely superbly as a team - I honestly couldn't have asked more of them.

[krawnden 1,036]

Nice one bud a bit more rewarding than a 2 1/2 hr walk with 1 myxi rabbit . Did all rabbits bolt into long net or did you have to dismantle log piles??

 

All rabbits bolted. Couldn't possibly have dismantled piles - they were huge. Each one would keep me in firewood for two or three winters! See the rest of the write up. The bit where I describe Willow taking a while to get into the hedge was just like that one we found when she kept trying to shift it but the hedge was so thick it took her a while

[socks 32,253]

Sounds like an excellent day ... Well done man and dogs .....

[Daniel cain 46,008]

Not easy by the sounds of it,enjoyed your write up pal. Atb dc

[Phil Lloyd 10,738]

Goodonya fellah,...I do a lot of that...

Rabbits living in big gardens,..factory units,.etc....its real satisfying to get a victory,..and an earner

[Tiercel 6,986]

Now that to me is a first class day. All rabbits hunted for, the sense of satisfaction you must have had at the end of the day, will have had to be felt to be believed. Great write up, I was there with the terrier. I would have paid them for a day like that.

 

TC

[skycat 6,173]

What a truly enjoyable read that was. I really was there with you. So pleased that the terrier: I see you're calling her a terrier now is working her socks off. Mine isn't doing too bad either, though she isn't seeing as much work as yours. I'd say that she's really come into her own this last 6 months or so though.

[devon flighter 421]

cracking read! thank you

[krawnden 1,036]

Now that to me is a first class day. All rabbits hunted for, the sense of satisfaction you must have had at the end of the day, will have had to be felt to be believed. Great write up, I was there with the terrier. I would have paid them for a day like that.

 

TC

 

You're right tiercel - immensely satisfying And yes, I reckon I'd have been happy to pay for a day like that!

[krawnden 1,036]

What a truly enjoyable read that was. I really was there with you. So pleased that the terrier: I see you're calling her a terrier now is working her socks off. Mine isn't doing too bad either, though she isn't seeing as much work as yours. I'd say that she's really come into her own this last 6 months or so though.

 

Yes I tend to refer to her more often than not as a terrier, I suppose because she looks the part. Mind you, you can certainly see the whippet influence when she gets behind a rabbit - for something so small it's amazing how quickly she covers the ground. Glad to hear Grizz is doing well too. Still waiting to see some pictures though - got any you can put up?

[krawnden 1,036]

cracking read! thank you

 

You're welcome! Glad you enjoyed it.