THEFERRET.
Of these animals there are two kinds or species, the white Ferret and the polecat Ferret, so called from its great resemblance to the polecat, but they are certainly two distinct animals, though by many persons imagined to be one and the same, and confounded together; and as a proof of this distinction, I have had several excellent Ferrets killed by the polecat, when turned into the rabbit burrows, wherein the polecat had taken prior possession.
Ferrets are much used by the warreners in the following manner; when the youngrabbits become of a tolerable bigness or growth, they go to the holes where they have been observed, with a dog-Ferret, and turn him in with a long small line round his neck, and the other end of the line in their hands; if he goes a considerable way in, and finds no game, they draw him out again, and put him into another hole; and when they perceive by the line that he has struck at one of them, the line is gently drawn out, and he will bring the rabbit out in his mouth; the Ferret’s throat is then pressed, or squeezed close, in order that he may quit his prey, and then he is turned in again, this method the reader may practise with success, and take all the young rabbits out of their burrows, be their number never so great, but one caution is necessary to be observed, which is, not to lay the rabbits, as you take them, in the wind of the Ferret, this will baulk your sport, for if he scents or winds them, he will not keep in the ground; in the course of my practice I have tried a great number of holes, in some ofwhich he has gone six or seven fathom in almost straight or horizontal angles, generally about three or four feet deep under the earth before he found his prey, but these are too great lengths to draw them, and would be losing too much time, but if you find the rabbits at about three fathom deep, it will answer your purpose, though you may try different angles or holes, and take your game at the nighest; the above method is what is termed drawing them with a Line-Ferret.
In the winter season, when you are endeavouring to take the rabbits, and you cannot get them to bolt or come out of their holes, the following expedient may be put into execution, in order to take great numbers of them together; make use of the Line-Ferret as before, turn him into one of the holes or angles till he finds them, but let him not remain there long enough to lay hold of the rabbits, then put him in at another, and so in like manner into all, andin the nighest angle you find them, there turn in the Ferret, and let him lie while you can sound him; what is meant by sounding is, you must listen about where you think the line goes, with your ear to the ground, and where you hear him dig a trench cross the hole, just behind the place where you sounded down to the line, then follow the line till you come to him, and in all probability you will take a great number of rabbits, and this is the reason of trying the Ferret in so many different angles before you let him lie, for by this method they are driven together, for if you was to let him lie at first, perchance you might have the trouble of digging for only a single rabbit, for they do not keep in any great degree together till driven so by the means aforesaid; but remember not to muzzle your Line-Ferret.
Another method of catching them is, by what is termed starting or bolting; to this end take the bitch or the Ferret and muzzleand use it in this manner, where there are any rabbits in burrows or at hedges, which you intend to destroy; when you first approach to the place, remember to take the wind of it, and fix a small purse-net, made for the purpose, called a Flan, in some countries, at each hole, do this as still and silent as possible, then put in the Ferrets at the lee-side of the burrow, in order that you may have the wind of the rabbits, and stand at the lee-side yourself, not making the least noise, for though many persons have a notion, that do what you will the rabbits will not start, yet this is a mistake, for if they hear a noise above ground they will fly down into their lower holes, till they can run no further, then the Ferret gets behind them and scratches them till they bleed, in which situation it is impossible for him to get before to drive them out into the net, and this is the reason I enjoin a strict silence, for then he catches them in their upper angles, on which they bolt out immediately, for they never lie in the lowerones till they are disturbed above ground; it is therefore a mistaken notion of a great many people, to hunt and drive in all the rabbits they can find before they put the Ferrets into the ground, but this method is entirely wrong, if you intend to start or bolt them, for if they are once driven to ground, it is ten to one if they move, but will lie and be scratched to death: but if you hunt them with a Line-Ferret, you will then have nothing to do but to sound your Ferret and dig them out as before directed.
I shall here beg leave to make a remark relative to a bad practice of the warreners, who make too frequent use of Ferrets, which method I entirely disapprove of; for, was I in possession of a warren, which I occupied for my livelihood, I would never put a Ferret into the ground at all, as it does a warren infinite prejudice and damage; it makes the rabbits forsake their own home, and run away, and lie out till they are killed, for they have a fixed antipathy against enteringinto the ground where there is the least smell of the Ferret; they have the same dislike to other vermin, and the Ferret is as bad as any of them; my own method of catching rabbits is, by nets made into pound pitches, and then you may sort them as you think proper, the best you may turn over the net and the worst you may kill; on the contrary, the Ferret has no respect to either, but will destroy the good as well as the bad.
The Ferret, as has been before observed, in many instances resembles the polecat, and if one should get away from his hutch, and get into the garden or field, if you should chance to get him again, he becomes so wild that you can scarcely venture to touch him. I have catched them at the hen-house, in a farm-yard, where they come to kill the fowls, for being set by some people to drive out the rats, they sometimes lose one, when he preys about as the polecat does; and will sometimes feed upon young rats, but as tothe old ones those he does not choose to face, for I have had several good Ferrets as could be, all beat by an old rat, which they will not touch, except they are very sharp set and hungry; this experiment I have made by keeping one fasting for a day and a night, and then he killed an old fierce rat and eat him presently. This affords a useful lesson, for if you are going to make use of your Ferrets for any business, keep them fasting for some time before, they being of a very sluggish disposition, and when their bellies are full they will not hunt after any thing, or work in the least: I have often turned them into holes after rats, when, if they find a nest of young ones, they will eat them, and if sufficient to satisfy their hunger, they will hunt after no more prey, but fall asleep, for they only go in search of it to serve themselves, and when their bellies are full, you may hunt by yourself; this is the true nature of the Ferret.
In some places people employ them instead of cats, in destroying rats, when they often prove of good service, especially in under floors of any kind, and when they lie between the boards, but in ceilings and common sewers they are not so serviceable; in the first they can do no good, and in the latter they do not much care to wet their feet, except when sharp set, and then they will seize the rat, which sometimes bolts from the Ferret, and is driven into a narrow angle or corner, where being kept at bay and made desperate, he maintains a fierce combat with the Ferret, and makes him retire with his face and head terribly bitten and bloody.