Fed Up

[king 11,984]

Get a hawk bell on the ferrets collar.

No matter how thick the cover you will hear were the ferret is by the bell.

1 of these.

Look at this on eBay http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/361715519936

[Arry 23,222]

Get a hawk bell on the ferrets collar.

No matter how thick the cover you will hear were the ferret is by the bell.

1 of these.

Look at this on eBay http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/361715519936

You are right mate we use 12mm bells the same as on cat collars and are very good, my mate can hear them lovely unfortunately I can't. I have ring in my hears all the time, some 40 years ago now somebody fired a 12 bore next to my ear when out lamping. I think there is still a risk when your doing a hedge with a lot of cover a burrow 100 meters or so long and only 2 handed we will pick and chose till it dies off a bit more.

 

Cheers Arry

[Chaff 3,636]

Do the bells not get caught up in the nets all the time ?

[Arry 23,222]

Do the bells not get caught up in the nets all the time ?

Yea they do a bit mate but some time its worth putting up with. If you had open ground they not needed, most of our work is hedges.

 

Cheers Arry

[Chaff 3,636]

Yeah see what your saying Arry we do a large patch of brambles every year impossible to net so we put 6 or so ferrets to it, and bolt them for dogs I think in that situation they worth having.

Cheers lads

[king 11,984]

Do the bells not get caught up in the nets all the time ?

Give a bell a try chaff.

Great around big brambles bushes and thick hedges as arry said.you would be unlucky for the ferret to sneak out the back without you hearing it.

Sometimes they will fill a bit with fine soil.

Maybe after half a days ferreting.

Just tap the soil out and a quick blow and they are good to go.

[Arry 23,222]

12mm Tibetan bells on ebay about £1.50 for 15 free postage, I have tried smaller ones they are crap. Can't remember which person i bought them off.

 

Cheers Arry

Edited October 25, 2017 by Arry

[grompz 706]

always used bells on ferrets whilst working, a good old tested method of keeping track of them when working,providing the wind is not raging so you hear bugger all,the bell doesnt get clogged up with mud,and the bell doesnt get snagged up in purse nets,these days i mainly rely on my locater,watch the dogs as they usually know where the ferrets are moving in the hedge,also like to work albino or light coloured ferrets,bit easier to spot if they wander out than polecats in big setts that are covered in brambles and ferns.

[terryd 8,753]

Arry i missed your call i will call you tonight after work. There's a few farms I'm going to knock where there are rabbits. Are they more likely to sit in cover when its still thick? When i was you get never had a dog, just net up random holes and would always have one or two. Do hope the rabbits come out the other end and it doesn't wipe them out.

 

They sit out around here thick cover or not. Then the dog finds them and puts them under a bit of pressure until they go to ground. Unless the cover is really thick then he struggles a bit. But with out him I wouldn't have much hope at all

 

Edited October 25, 2017 by terryd

[SINDASOX 256]

Started using the falconry bells myself last year, really excellent on hearing where the ferret is if they decide to wander down a really thick hedgerow.

 

I would go for a good quality falconry one, the one's you can get to go on a cat collar are absolute crap.

 

The bells do fill up with muck and dirt quite regularly and then they make no sound, so what i do is carry a few spares.

 

The best way to get the muck out i have found is to submerge the bell is some water and shake all the crap out.

 

SINDASOX

[terryd 8,753]

yep big fan of bells. Never ferret with out them. Real asset espeacially if your on your own and even if I dont hear them the dog does. He was looking down the hedge row the other day and I took a walk down and sure enough my jill was out on top. The holes went further than I thought

[Bobtheferret 1,270]

 

Arry i missed your call i will call you tonight after work. There's a few farms I'm going to knock where there are rabbits. Are they more likely to sit in cover when its still thick? When i was you get never had a dog, just net up random holes and would always have one or two. Do hope the rabbits come out the other end and it doesn't wipe them out.

 

They sit out around here thick cover or not. Then the dog finds them and puts them under a bit of pressure until they go to ground. Unless the cover is really thick then he struggles a bit. But with out him I wouldn't have much hope at all

 

Dogs looking great.

[terryd 8,753]

 

 

Arry i missed your call i will call you tonight after work. There's a few farms I'm going to knock where there are rabbits. Are they more likely to sit in cover when its still thick? When i was you get never had a dog, just net up random holes and would always have one or two. Do hope the rabbits come out the other end and it doesn't wipe them out.

They sit out around here thick cover or not. Then the dog finds them and puts them under a bit of pressure until they go to ground. Unless the cover is really thick then he struggles a bit. But with out him I wouldn't have much hope at all

 

Dogs looking great.

 

 

Thank you. Nothing to do with me though just the way he is lol

[max abell 196]

Comes and goes mate we ain't had a really good year since 2003 we have got thousands of acres of permissions but since we had that really wet spring in 2004 there's been no big numbers even on new permissions that have never been touched before. No idea what's going on BRING BACK the 70s and 80s loads about then. I'm showing my age now lol

[Busher100 750]

If you know where their are pockets of rabbits but farmer wont answer the door I would be insisting on keeping the rabbits down for him. Will never be out of rabbits that way