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comanche

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Everything posted by comanche

  1. comanche
    Must be a Houdini mouse .Dormouse would asleep this time of year. It's only a personal thing but I don't like leaving squirrel cage traps set overnight in really freezing weather as the squirrels are not active in the dark anyway and any non-target that may get caught after dusk is going to have a miserable time.
  2. comanche
    Bolted bunnies are more likely to run down the ditch if there are plenty of holes rather than shoot out sideways into nets nets set alongside the ditch.You might have more luck by setting the nets across the ditch.If there is a hedge you may have to drag the net through a gap and you might have to weight the net down into the bottom of the ditch. Then set your purse nets between the two nets . After doing one section leap frog the purse nets and one long-net down a few yards leaving one behind as a backstop to try to prevent any bunnies going back to the holes you've already done . Of cours
  3. comanche
    Just home at six weeks . and a few days before his first birthday . He was a bit miffed about that as with his birthday being a day or so before Christmas he did'nt get so many presents .
  4. comanche
    you're nuts...????
  5. comanche
    We all like to think we've reinvented the wheel from time to time Then we find out other folk having been doing the same and rather unsportingly keeping their ideas to themselves lest they use their edge over other trappers .Some may be even saving these gems for the book they fancy writing one day. Along with any uneaten nuts I always save the shells from the cracked ones . They make a very effective groundbait to complement the sort of set-up Logun has kindly shared .
  6. comanche
    I think in places where ferrets were deliberatly introduced to control rats and rabbits they were released in numbers that allowed for a degree of initial loss and in sufficient quantity to ensure a breeding population . The same thing has happened with mongooses where they were deliberatly introduced to the West Indies to control rats in the cane plantations. They did a little too well and became a threat to native wildlife . In these places -such as NZ and WIndies- there were seemingly no effective native predators able to control rats and rabbits so serious attempts at controllin
  7. comanche

    giant fox

    comanche replied to #1poacher's topic in General Talk

    Been hearing about this giant fox for the last day or so and had visualised something about the size of a labrador from what I'd been told . Now I've seen the picture and read the weight it's impressive but not the monster I'd hoped to see . The picture of it dangling from the ladder is taken from a crafty angle -I mean it looks huge -but mid 20 pounds isn't unheard of. It's still a biggy though. One was shot on a rabbit drive about 15-20 years ago at Knepp in Sussex. On my el-cheapo Little Samson fishing scales it hovered around 28lb. Being an anorak I've weighed a few out of
  8. comanche
    yucky! That looks like one that went a bit wrong-neither reabsorbed ,born or aborted . Sometimes you find a little lump that on inspection is best described as a "mummyfied" or fossilised baby that somehow got left behind in the doe . I think the one in the picture might have been on the way to becoming one of those . Yucky but a neat pic!.
  9. comanche
    Surely the 8ft collar battery compartment is a different diameter than a 15ft one so you would actually have to make a bigger cap for it to accomadate two batteries instead of one . Even if the exra voltage did'nt damage the transmiter or give powerfull false readings to the reciever you'd end up with something really bulky round the ferret's neck that would catch on the nets and stuff .Which I guess is why the 15ft collar was redesigned to use smaller batteries .
  10. comanche
    Look at the bunny baby in that picture . It was born over a month ago. Then factor in that a doe is pregnant for a month . That means that little scuttler was concieved around Halloween . This is quite normal as there is a lull in breeding during the hotter ,longer days of summer and a brief flurry of sexual activity (usually involving the older bucks ) as the days shorten in autumn. Rabbits are triggered into breeding cycles to some extent by daylight levels .Onc e the winter equinox has passed they become more frisky. The recent laying snow by reflecting light and effectively extendin
  11. comanche
    Yep I'm with The One and Stubby.Keep em working. My oldest girl is now 12 and for the first time she failed to come into season this year. She is also a bit skinny ,has a re-occuring cyst on her neck and no canine teeth. This has to be her last winter . Or does it ? I've been half expecting to find her curled up cold in the nest for the past three winters but she always pops up with the youngsters when I open the cage door . She comes out working with the others from time to time and is my best pocket ferret for those " dozen nets and a dog" casual afternoons poking about . When s
  12. comanche
    Piglets don't pop out of the sow ready salted!. The salting preservation process comes later . Pork does have a reputation for going "off" quickly which is one of the reasons that it usually prepared for preservation or eating as soon as possible . Also pigs sometimes host tapeworms which can affect several other species including dogs and man . This another reason raw pork is frowned upon . The odd fresh new-born should'nt do any harm. I've fed the occasional piglet but always erred on the side of caution by not feeding pork in warm weather and being quick to remove uneaten bits .
  13. comanche
    Zinc air are activated when you take em out of the packet and pull-off the sealing patch . They actually let air into the battery to start the power release reaction . By the same token they will take on dirt and water . Basically they were intended for nice clean and dry conditions such as inside hearing aids . Not the inside of a muddy and steamy old ferret collar!. They often give up the ghost after a few hours and once removed will rarely work ever again anyway . Also Zinc air batteries might be the same size as the silver ones but they are the wrong voltage anyway . A ZA batter
  14. comanche
    I'm sure I had a tea card with a frill-necked lizard on . I sort of recognised it . They are all impressive though . How big and how common are they ?. And it's a change to see a picture that hasn't any snow in it !
  15. comanche
    Only3 months old ? .They would really be quite babyish at that age and not fully grown . It would be alot to expect them to work seriously. Could you be underestimating their age?. Just keep handling the little chaps .Be gentle when you pop em down the holes and very calm and gentle when they come out so they don't get all nervous or playfull about emerging back into the daylight . It is well worth remembering that not all holes actually contain rabbits so don't be too disheartened if your freds fail to score every time . Good luck .
  16. comanche
    Doesn't rank as particuarly impressive but its a bit of a mystery. Alpine newts have turned-up in my garden pond over the last couple of years. I can only think that they came as eggs on a bit of weed I collected.
  17. comanche
    A slightly scruffy stuffed pine martin and the remains of an old eel spear.
  18. comanche
    The only people that think that are the armchair conservationists. Groups like the Hare Preservation Society. They all believe that we shouldn't hunt the Hare even though it was brought to the UK for that purpose. They only thing that will bring it's downfall is farming. They may be common in places but they are very scarce in my area and getting scarcer. What's this about them being introduced for hunting . Plenty of evidence that the Brown hare has been here since prehistoric times . Some folk like to claim the Romans introduced em on the basis of what they thin
  19. comanche
    The only people that think that are the armchair conservationists. Groups like the Hare Preservation Society. They all believe that we shouldn't hunt the Hare even though it was brought to the UK for that purpose. They only thing that will bring it's downfall is farming. They may be common in places but they are very scarce in my area and getting scarcer. What's this about them being introduced for hunting . Plenty of evidence that the Brown hare has been here since prehistoric times . Some folk like to claim the Romans introduced em on the basis of what they thin
  20. comanche
    You see trugs fitted with hazel handles and rims and these parts usually have a strip of bark remaining firmly attached . These are steam-bent .I was told to soak any seasoned wood for a couple of days before attempting anything too drastic. I've curved bow tips after steaming over a pan of water covered by a tea towel and foil but once I'd discovered the drainpipe and wall-paper steamer method found things a lot easier. I guess the answer is to practice on your least favourite stick but I expect you've thought of that Good luck and keep us informed .All the best
  21. comanche
    There was a litter about some 25-30 years ago . I think Ted Walsh mentioned them in an article . They don't seem to have caught on which might say something about the cross. I can't help thinking that they might be a bit "hair trigger".
  22. comanche
    i'll second that.... ,thats how i straightened mine,and it worked fine,gradually heating it up and checking how plyable it was getting as i went along,keeping the heat gun moving up and down the area to be straightened,and not holding it in one spot to long,incase i scorched the wood, good luck, all the best, jay. I think I was gettin a bit carried away in my last post .Sorry. OTC only asked for an easy way of straightening sticks . I've straightened arrows over a flame and with some gentle thumbing they do come straight pretty quickly so you hot air guys have my vote on that o
  23. comanche
    According to my woodsman friend as a rough guide you should allow an hours steaming for every inch of thickness of wood. Using the blocked drainpipe and wall-paper steamer method I found this formula far more successful than the combination of impatience and guess-work I'd been struggling with . I've curved walking sticks ,bows and ribs for a canoe using this guide . You have to work quick to get the piece into the desired shape though-possibly 30 seconds maximum - so have all your clamps and formers at the ready before you take anything out of the steamer.
  24. comanche
    A mate has found this weather ideal for testing his new snow cammo suit. Its amazing how close the deer will allow him to approach using this gear . Made from 100% recycled ex-leper colony bedsheets the "Fake Flake " range of bodysuits is complemented by a full range of underwear from the same sustainable source. Available only from Comanche Rip-off Merchandise ltd it is ideal for those wintery hunting expeditions when your faithfull old DPM or "Real Tree" would let you down .
  25. comanche
    Nice one Phil. We were out yesterday ,probably not a million miles from you . We also had a couple of rabbits in the nets before the freds even left the box . My mate reckoned that it was his reputation as a rabbit catcher that had them surrendering. That was a silly thing to say as it was'nt long before one of the nets he'd set let let a bunny slip by . We did not of course take the micky . Bet your little dog is coming along with all this work. All the best
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