Stubborn bunnies

[gollum 1]

The last few trips I keep coming up against stubborn rabbits.

 

The Jills or even my HUGE poley

 

 

cannot get them to move and it seems they would rather fight it out with no chance at all than run!!

 

On one occasion I got a whiff of fox so maybe that helped to keep em down, but I'm stumped on the rest. Digging is an everyday thing now, whereas in the summer, allegedly the bad time for digging, I hardly had any digs at all!

 

I am as quiet as possible always, and usually use stop and long nets to help keeping noise disturbance to a minimum.

The ferrets are getting more experienced of course and maybe that is accounting for more digs but....

 

Any ideas anyone?

 

HH all.

 

G.

[richie 1]

we had the same problem at the weekend, we ended up digging down to sixteen of the twenty !

[Brimmer 220]

The younger the rabbits are , the easier they bolt. Get to this point in the season, and the strong rabbits stick with the game plan that has worked until now, and fight it out.

It takes good ferrets to move these, or the spade to dig them out when they dont move.

This is what happens every year! Keep that blade moving!

[The one 8,397]

We had the same on saturday got 6 had to dig 4 of them yesterday was mch the same got 11 and dug a fair few of them

[andy s410c 59]

The younger the rabbits are , the easier they bolt. Get to this point in the season, and the strong rabbits stick with the game plan that has worked until now, and fight it out.

It takes good ferrets to move these, or the spade to dig them out when they dont move.

This is what happens every year! Keep that blade moving!

B is that your spade shaft in your avatar The man's a human JCB not Flash Gordon but Flash of the Blade

[sambo123 587]

You shouldn't ferret in the summer mate

[scotsman5 0]

im new to this game so this might sound stupid! but why shouldnt you ferret during the summer??? to many young rabits or what? i guess pregant rabits would be a problem too.

[fergie 0]

im new to this game so this might sound stupid! but why shouldnt you ferret during the summer??? to many young rabits or what? i guess pregant rabits would be a problem too.

 

too many young about easy meal for the ferrets under ground with new litters ect

too much folage around some warrans

ferrets cope better with the cfold than they do the heat

All that said there are people that do it for a living that need to use them in the summer months

[Brimmer 220]

The younger the rabbits are , the easier they bolt. Get to this point in the season, and the strong rabbits stick with the game plan that has worked until now, and fight it out.

It takes good ferrets to move these, or the spade to dig them out when they dont move.

This is what happens every year! Keep that blade moving!

B is that your spade shaft in your avatar The man's a human JCB not Flash Gordon but Flash of the Blade

Yep thats the new spade shaft, only into it's second season so it's not yet worn in!

Actually my initials are JB, and the lads at work say i should have the middle name Colin! = JCB looks like you think like they do Andy!

[Brimmer 220]

If you can avoid the summer ferreting, you'll end up with a lot of dead babies and the does won't even go near the babies again if they get away without bieng found.

It's just wrong to be honest, you may as well just gas the animals.

But saying that, if there is a job to do, i'd not hold it against any man.

[pearcepestcontrol 1]

I never ferret during the summer months due to fleas and ticks, if the winter is mild baby rabbits can be found underground on boxing day.

I find the wind direction is the key to rabbits bolting. Wind from the east rabbits bolt least. Good westerly they fly out of the ground. Last time i ferreted on an easterly i had to dig six from seven. Im sure its do do with the way scent travels around the buries, one thing is for sure even the hounds have trouble finding scent when its easterly.

[collie/bed/saluki/bullgrey 0]

ive had the same bud the last time i was out had two of my albino hobs and polecat gill working could hear rabbits thumping under ground but did rabbits wont to bolt no chance had to dig six times each dig around 4ft but was like digging through concrete ground that hard me lurcher was marking up that rabbit was going to bolt but bloody rabbits wouldnt move had six rabbits that day from a twenty holer shame really as me lurcher didnt have a run on the bolters same as me nets never got any use but thats how it is some times i went to work the next burry set up nine purse nets left three bolt holes empty so me lurcher could have a course but nothink was at home really wierd as when im out at night all the rabbits bolt to this warren but next time i have them all the best

[FUBAR 0]

Just a guess

Too much noise up top ?

[Brimmer 220]

Just a guess

Too much noise up top ?

Could be too much noise up top like you say, but then how do you prevent smell up top, of stinky humans and dogs, and then also the dog running them down the hole's. You could be as quiet as you like, but i bet the rabbit knows you're there.

If a rabbit has the slightest inkling anything is wrong, it will make it's move.

Whether bolting out of popholes to evade the dog, or staying put and facing the ferrets.

There one step ahead of any man that walks the land.

[kinderbeano 13]

im having much the same problem.was out last week early to a 12 holer that i know has rabbits in it becaus the garden it is in is ruined by them.put the first ferret down and she stayed down for about 20 muinits and then she just started runing from one hole to another.i could tell she was onto something but we gave two or three hours nearly without even hearing any thumping..any ideas anyone?i think there not working deep enough as iv had this problem before.bearing in mind it was bout -1 out that morning if that would effect them much.