Just caught ! Phsyco hob ferret.

[mole trapper 1,693]

For a week or so now i have had something trying to dig under my ferret court in several places, thought first of all thought it may have been a fox after the meat in there, anyway sunday we had a mass escape bid, pointed out to us by the chickens going batshit. We think we caught them all up and checked the pen, where the digging had gone under the wire mesh floor there was a hole bitten through the wire.

So last night i put two of my Fenn double ender cage traps tight around the perimiter, well this morning i found a huge hob fitchy, in great condition, but wild, never seen one like this before, the noise he made when i went within 5 feet of the trap was something else, baring his huge white teeth and of course seriously stinking.

Decisions decisions, do i just shoot it in the trap, as i really do not think this tasmanian devil lookalike could be hand trained, even if you could find welding gloves thick enough to try.

He would make a great stud though, as he is obviously a natural survivor, for the moment i have put him in a quiet shed and will keep him in the cage trap, chucked in some meat and drink.

Anybody any experience of trying to tame a throw back like this one, or should i not risk my hands and go with the initial idea, when the mrs gets home will put up a picture.

 

Regards MT.

[andy s410c 61]

Difficult one to call MT I think its one of them situations that you have to be there to appreciate the predicament You say he,s in good nick perhaps the previous owner has just let him go?Perhaps he may quiten down in a couple of days.....Personally i would give him a try, you never know

[woodga 170]

give him a few days to settle and see if he quietens down any if after this time he still wants to bite and musks one in the nut :kiss:

[Malt 379]

Any chance it was a wild poley after some time of year loving?

[Rolfe 2]

Any chance it was a wild poley after some time of year loving?

Where i live there are colonies of "Feral Ferrets" roaming quiet freely and surviving well. They are all polecat marked and are as wild as any true polecat. They are, i believe, the decendants of escapees and lost ferrets that have started to breed in the wild. I regularly catch them in my rabbit cage traps, and they hiss and stink to high heaven as you describe. Where i can....... I set them free after capture as they are helpling me with my rabbit control so to speak.

As for taming them down.........i doubt it could be easily achieved..........but......just maybe it can be done, but i would not have the time and patience needed to succeed with the task.

 

Rolfe.

[Kay 3,709]

I would just let him go

[Simoman 110]

Unfortunately I'm far too wimpy and wouldn't try and tame him incase I was bitten He may settle down after a couple of days, a couple a years ago I was handed a malnourished ferret covered in ticks that had been released/escaped. He was syringe fed and tame as a kitten....until he regained his condition then his true nature emerged, one minute he was a kitten the next with no warning he sank his fangs in (luckily enough for me always into someone else). I rehomed him to a guy who had ferrets that also bit but he didn't care(he was a big tough boy)

[micky 3,325]

For a week or so now i have had something trying to dig under my ferret court in several places, thought first of all thought it may have been a fox after the meat in there, anyway sunday we had a mass escape bid, pointed out to us by the chickens going batshit. We think we caught them all up and checked the pen, where the digging had gone under the wire mesh floor there was a hole bitten through the wire.

So last night i put two of my Fenn double ender cage traps tight around the perimiter, well this morning i found a huge hob fitchy, in great condition, but wild, never seen one like this before, the noise he made when i went within 5 feet of the trap was something else, baring his huge white teeth and of course seriously stinking.

Decisions decisions, do i just shoot it in the trap, as i really do not think this tasmanian devil lookalike could be hand trained, even if you could find welding gloves thick enough to try.

He would make a great stud though, as he is obviously a natural survivor, for the moment i have put him in a quiet shed and will keep him in the cage trap, chucked in some meat and drink.

Anybody any experience of trying to tame a throw back like this one, or should i not risk my hands and go with the initial idea, when the mrs gets home will put up a picture.

A couple of years back i caught a large fitchit hob in a fenn 6,he did not seem to be injured ,just very pissed off and stunk vile,my mate George said he would have him if we could get him out,George grabbed his head with his cap while i ,opened the trap ,as soon as it was free ,it bit me straight through the thumb nail.george bagged him up and after three weeks he had him tame and working.He made a good killing buck but i never liked handling him

[Guest Ditch_Shitter]

Steady as ye go there, MT. That hob's showing every sign of simply being a genuine, wild Polecat. I'm a bit wary of Rolfes 'Feral colony of poley coloured ferrets' too.

 

It's not that well known that, for decades now, govt. sponsered breeding and reintroduction schemes have been going on up and down the country. Thus ye'll now encounter the real deal in Hampshire, of all places. Still a historical, natural home of musty p though. And they're bringing them back.

 

Anything untoward comes of that animal and ye could end up having to prove how and why ye figured, beyond reasonable doubt, that it was 'just' a ferret.

 

Besides, I personally feel Rolfe has the all round answer: Take the bugger out to where ever ye need to control rabbits. Bet he'll thin the buggers down!

[woodga 170]

yep you realease it then next time you ferret on your patch and dig down to retreive your ferret after a lie up reach in for it and wallop the nice fichet you released locked onto your hand :11: :11: apart from what else it kills just like turning a bloody mink loose again

[Night Hunter 109]

if it is finger hinger :crazy: and its nae good tae ye treat it like a rat and chap it on the head..... ....

 

 

 

 

ofcourse i realy meant to say you should release it in the countryside......

[Guest bigredbusa]

get a breeding out of it and then nut it

[Rolfe 2]

Steady as ye go there, MT. That hob's showing every sign of simply being a genuine, wild Polecat. I'm a bit wary of Rolfes 'Feral colony of poley coloured ferrets' too.

 

It's not that well known that, for decades now, govt. sponsered breeding and reintroduction schemes have been going on up and down the country. Thus ye'll now encounter the real deal in Hampshire, of all places. Still a historical, natural home of musty p though. And they're bringing them back.

 

Anything untoward comes of that animal and ye could end up having to prove how and why ye figured, beyond reasonable doubt, that it was 'just' a ferret.

 

Besides, I personally feel Rolfe has the all round answer: Take the bugger out to where ever ye need to control rabbits. Bet he'll thin the buggers down!

Ditch.........as a footnote to the feral ferret / true polecat saga...........our local keeper was trapping (and still is) quite a few of these animals and sent a couple off to some university somewhere for a closer inspection. He tells me the report came back........they were NOT pure polecat. Make of that what you will...........i personally don't know enough about genetics to argue.

 

Rolfe.

[Guest Ditch_Shitter]

All a bit late in the day now, Rolfe. The Anti's have already copied off a string of statements above. Field Sportsmen and Pest Controllers of every hue and level publicly declaring everything from the view that one should kill a potentially Protected speicies out of hand right down to showing ignorance of the quarries habits.

 

They've been handed their field day on a plate - again - and must be splitting their sides with relish and glee.

 

I tried

[phil_h 53]

For a week or so now i have had something trying to dig under my ferret court in several places, thought first of all thought it may have been a fox after the meat in there, anyway sunday we had a mass escape bid, pointed out to us by the chickens going batshit. We think we caught them all up and checked the pen, where the digging had gone under the wire mesh floor there was a hole bitten through the wire.

So last night i put two of my Fenn double ender cage traps tight around the perimiter, well this morning i found a huge hob fitchy, in great condition, but wild, never seen one like this before, the noise he made when i went within 5 feet of the trap was something else, baring his huge white teeth and of course seriously stinking.

Decisions decisions, do i just shoot it in the trap, as i really do not think this tasmanian devil lookalike could be hand trained, even if you could find welding gloves thick enough to try.

He would make a great stud though, as he is obviously a natural survivor, for the moment i have put him in a quiet shed and will keep him in the cage trap, chucked in some meat and drink.

Anybody any experience of trying to tame a throw back like this one, or should i not risk my hands and go with the initial idea, when the mrs gets home will put up a picture.

 

Regards MT.

love to see a pic of him. u got to stud him mate if he's that nice. then let him go somewhere i would.