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In the Dales on Sunday


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After a great day out on Saturday with Jai, I decided to go for a quiet mooch out on my own with half a bag of nets and a ferret on the same land that we were on the day before. I phoned the farmer to let him know that i'd be on again which he was pleased about as he wants the bunnies gone.

 

When I got there I picked up a purse net that we'd forgotten the day before, and then started the walk onto the tops. As I was walking up, the farmers son (about 11) drove down on his quad and asked if I wanted a lift. 'I will do if you're offering' I said, hopping on. He drove me up and after thanking him I set off walking. Numerous rabbits ran off but none wished to play ball and go to ground. Walking through some rushes, I pushed one out which ran for a few yards before diving into a set on a raised strip of grass.

 

I netted all the holes and entered Nutjob after she had had her collar put on. She worked along the burrow until eventually she met the rabbit, it took some persuading but it bolted in the end. No more rabbits were at home so I unnetted and carried on. Further into the field, a rabbit dived down a set that was in a steep sided gully. I had to work this warren in halves as I didn't have enough nets. I worked the first few holes which weren't part of the main warren first, bolting nothing. I then moved them nets onto the main warren where the rabbit was found by Nutjob and flew out of a hole.

 

I lifted the nets and moved over the valley onto some higher, limestone filled land. The rabbits here are also very reluctant to go to ground which is a real pain in the arse when you have no dog. After walking round for a while, I saw one drop into a run through which had a few holes dotted around it. all the holes were netted and Nutjob was sent down. The rabbit stared thumping and it wasn't long before it was entangled in a net. The jill was sent back down but nothing else was home so I carried on searching. I saw loads of rabbits but none seemed to want to go to ground. As I was due to be picked up in half a hour, I started to head back. On the way I passed by a very active looking 5 holer. As a general rule, I won't ferret anything that I haven't seen a rabbit run into up here as the rabbits are so reluctant to go to ground, but as this looked so active I thought i'd give it a try. Nutjob went in and she managed to bolt one much to my delight. This was to be the last warren of the day as I was about a mile from where I needed to be so I didn't want to push my luck.

 

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Some of the rabbits from the ferreting with Jai, and some from Sunday.

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All the rabbits on my other permissions as full of young or have already had young but up here i've only had one doe that had the startings of babies so there's another couple of weeks up here.

 

Joe

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Haha, no prizes for guessing which one of those bunnys the crocodile had. :laugh:

 

Soft mouthed she is not, unless there are no other dogs about. She is a competetive bitch, and that bunny is HERS. :laugh:

 

Mind you, would it have stayed in the net without her? :hmm:

 

But well done matey, that's good going for one man, no dog :thumbs: Hopefully we will be up this weekend again, if all goes to plan for round two, 19 to beat :victory:

 

P.S Give nutjob a cwtch from me :thumbs:

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Snap!

 

One tip - soaking in iced salty water gets rid of brusing :thumbs:

 

But i never understand folks issue with smashed ribs, i mean, who eats rabbit ribs, i just scoff the saddle, back end, legs and chuck the ribs to the animals.

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