Neal
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Everything posted by Neal
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On my walk this morning, while putting my hat in my pocket, I leaned my thumb-stick against a post. When I went to pick up the stick I noticed something at the base of the post which I presumed was an owl pellet. Taking a closer look I noticed it had those bits in it like the ones in your photo. I decided to crumble it up to take a closer look, purely for scientific reasons you understand, and discovered they were the ends of the central shaft of a feather. Upon returning home, I had a look in my, "Animal Tracks and Signs" book expecting it to possibly be a scat after all but the closest t
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Hi Robbie, I think there was a similar thread on here about a month or so ago so you could try using the search to locate it. From what I've seen/read/heard they are either brilliant or awful with few inbetweens ie love them or hate them. Happy hunting.
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The best things in life are worth waiting for!
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Hi Kay, my local RSPCA animal shelter refuses to rehome ferrets to working homes where they are, "forced to go down dark holes." Also, a local paper ran a story in October 2006, presumably with "expert information" from the aforementioned RSPCA sanctuary. The story reported the large rise in ferrets in rescue centres at that time of year ie late summer/early autumn. They claimed it was due to the end of the ferreting season and thus was a way for cruel ferreters to dispose of their stock now that they had no work as it was now approaching winter! I can only presume it was written by so
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Thanks for all the replies.
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I wasn't quite sure where abouts to put this thread but here seemed as good a place as any. While walking through the woods this morning I came upon a fresh single holed (as far as I could see) rabbit bury. Several flecks of rabbit hair were dotted around the entrance and about three feet away lay a dead weasel. The only injuries were a slight rip to its right ear and a tear on the right hand side of its abdomen from which was hanging some of its entrails. The only explanation I could think of was that maybe it had been raked with a kick by a doe defending her young. Does anybody have any ot
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My three Kelpies have all got pretty good feet. The eldest is now eight and the worst injury he's ever had to his feet is a couple of thorns which were all taken out by hand and he was running around straight after. I've even known them to run over broken glass without injury; not something I did on purpose I hasten to add. Of the lurchers I've had in the past all the ones with poor feet had racing greyhound blood, whereas those with good feet were from coursing stock. I've only had two of each though so that could simply be coincidence.
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Morrissey: "Some girls are bigger than others, some girls are bigger then others, some girls' mothers are bigger than other girls' mothers." Morrissey: "I dreamt about you last night and I fell out of bed twice, you could pin a mountain like a butterfly." Hugh Laurie in "Sense and Sensibility": "I came to Devonshire with no other view." And a general one: "Be careful what you wish for as one day you may just get it."
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My local supermarket (am I allowed to say that word?) occasionaly sells trays of salmon trimmings which seem to do the trick.
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Hi Tis TM, as for being picked by your dog as oppossed to the other way round, I had the same thing happen with my oldest kelpie. There were three pups left in the litter and when the shepherd opened up their run, two of them bolted straight round the corner to a small paddock beside the house whereas Rust shot straight out to me, put his front paws on my knees and wagged his tail like mad as if to say, "Hi! I'm coming home with you."
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Who has done most to publicise the Countryside to the masses?
Neal replied to The Sporting Agent's topic in General Talk
I'd vote for Jack Hargreaves too, and not just because he died on my 25th birthday. -
There was a feature on yesterday's "The One Show," about Glen Of Imaals, saying that they are now officially the rarest British breed. None of them looked like they could do a day's graft though.
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Thanks for the replies to my querry. I was presuming that it was to help to verify the location of the tunnels too. As I said it is a tad blunt but that could just be due to wear and tear.
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Not noticed any young yet, but there is already some frogspawn in my local wood and I heard a skylark displaying while out ferreting last weekend.
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One of my Kelpies is a fairly busy kind of dog, investigating every hole and then when he finds an occupied bury he tries to get it at every available hole. Conversely, the younger bitch simply stares at the hole and then glances at me with a, "what do you mean, you haven't got the ferrets," kind of expression.
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I have a vintage spade, bought in Lewes, advertised as a mole-catchers' spade. It has a blunted metal point at one end; does anybody know what that end is used for? Thanks!
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Hi Shaggy, I think that's the same hutch as I've got if it's about 4' long. I did have three ferrets in it but one has sadly recently died. I'm thinking of scaling up to a 6' x 4' shed simply because that's what I had in my last house. I find the sawdust falls out at the front a little in that one.
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I would definitely agree with SJM with regards to the grip. I've got a pair of Tweeds which are very light but no good for walking in a muddy field, especially if it's not flat.
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Thanks for the advice Fishfish.
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I keep a dog and two bitches together (lucky bugger ) but it's down to a lot of different elements such as the breed involved and the separate characters of the individuals as well as the group dynamics. Mine are very pack-like, for want of a better phrase, so get on well with few problems and any problems which do occur are sorted out quickly and easily amongst themselves (touch wood!).
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When I moved to this area two years ago I remember one elderly gentleman pointing to a small copse in the middle of my permission and saying in a sage-like voice, "there used to be a badger sett in that copse years ago." Since then I've found three active setts, two of which were rabbit buries the previous year. Fortunately, for the rabbits and I, I think one of these has since been flooded out, as it is every winter, so that one may return to a bury. However, just to be on the safe side I've been giving it a wide berth this season as it's near a public footpath.
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I'm about to do the same by adapting a 6' x 4' shed with weldmesh all along one side. What size etc do you all recommend for the mesh? I previously had one made out of old aviary panels which I've read is no good for ferrets but it seemed to hold them in. I'd rather get something a tad stronger this time though just to be on the safe side. Thanks in advance.
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Of the collie/whippets that I've known, I'd say (in my humble opinion), that they can either be brilliant or dreadful. I had one once who was amazingly obedient but was unfortunately the most sensitive dog I've ever owned. Incidentally, she was sired by one of Hancock's collies called Tory (Richard Jones x Katie) out of a racing whippet. If my memory serves me well the dam was approximately 3/4 whippet 1/4 greyhound, going back to Blue Peter etc. Must admit she was probably not the best pick of the litter as she was already very nervous as a pup. She used to literally climb up trees in order t
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Thanks Fubar. My older two Kelpies both have their good and bad points and I'm pleased that the pup seems to have the better points of both at the moment, though of course it's early days yet. Will keep you all updated as she, hopefully, progresses.
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I use three kelpies for ferreting and bushing. They're not exactly fast but they make up for it in enthusiasm.