Ferrets

[marksman]

so as to not completely take over the aussie disposals thread
because a few questions have been asked l have started this one

some young ferrets only around 8 weeks old that l owned

Yes. Let’s hear about some ferreting I only done it once 40 years ago .. and I did a little look on YouTube this morning. People actually have little signal collars on their ferrets and electronic devices for location so they know where to dig when the ferrets decide to kill, eat and sleep while on the job .....I wonder sometimes do the ferrets assume they are going to be dug out and verbally abused If they decide to stay down there

l usually treat my ferrets very well, they will come to my call and they do not bite me (usually)
to have them so quiet you need to handle them every day and feed them properly, treat them like your missus would treat a pet cat,
no good treating them like Stix would treat a cat dont wash them or they will get skin problems, clean there cages out regularly
when taking them out give them a light feed and dont just keep working them, give them a rest, switch them around a bit, give them water and shade
l have always had good ferrets except for one who tried to bite me because he wanted to go back in to get the rabbits in a big burrow, he was taking to long in there and got a smack over the head with a round mouth shovel and learned the hard way to behave

[John]

I’ve or ways like them there funny little critters they all so make really good pets that are pretty easy to look after click your fingers or shake your Kay keys and they will come running I’ve found they do play bite a bit not enough to break your skin or tho they can if mistreated
I know plenty of them get lost down holes and some people don’t bother trying to get them back my question is has any one seen one gone wild I don’t think I ever have seen one any where in the wild ???
All in all there a great pet and worker if your in to catching rabbits for the freezer

[marksman]

"Are the nets easy to make marksman...?

I was thinking of getting some from them just incase...although cash is basically non-existant for me atm, so to get 20 would be more than a stretch...maybe i could get 10...that should do, but some of the warrens ive got access to atm 10 wouldnt half of one home...!!
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Haha...!!...yes its so much fun...!!

I grew up doing it my entire childhood into adolescence, its such a buzz when numbers are good...its like sex for the senses all day long, except you have to carry the bag back to the car...

You know youve had a great morning when you're only 2/3rds the way though the planned trek & you cant carry all the bunnies...
And the times when walking between warrens at the beginning of the trip with not carrying much gear, & a bunny pops up from someones feet & everyone drops everything-shotty's mounted & first in first served...as opposed to the last few warrens, & a midday straggler launches from the shadows & everyone just stops in their tracks stands watching it run off cos its way too much effort to pick up all the gear again, after dropping it all for an iffy long 50plus yard shot...then everyone looks at everyone..."i left that one for you mate..."..& laughs...
Good times...bloody good times...!!!

Ive been thinking of getting some the last 6 months, along with a dog...force me off my butt & do less driving to snipe them at distance, & get some excercise while having a blast...!!
I just fear getting lazy with the bed/cage cleaning & the virus going rampant & knocking the population hard again...

But i do have some awesome open shotgunning bunny territory to chew up some great ferreting times with...!!...gees im getting all worked up...!!

Wish i had a shooting partner that could share the burden of ferret children with...that would be the go. ..like joint custody, 2 weeks with Dad, & 2 weeks with Dad...

"

to make them isn't hard its very easy, you need rings and string
hang a ring from the roof in your shed and cut lengths of string to double through the ring at the length you want
l make long nets at 2-3 meters long, so a 2 meter net would have 4 meter strings cut so you have 2 meters hanging from either side of the ring
put as many through as you want in width then knot the strings at the ring, if you want to have 2 inch holes in your net start working across knotting the strings at 1" down from the ring, once you have made your way across start an inch further down swapping to the opposite strings you knotted and just keep doing that swapping and knotting till you are at the end of the strings then tie the string ends onto another ring, then you need to thread a piece of string looping through the netting down a side and through a ring threading back up to the other ring and have at least 1 foot of string left over tied together with a tent peg attached

l hope you can understand this

the picture below is the same as what l make except l use a tent peg to anchor the net not a wooden peg

[Stix]

Good thread marksman...i was going to do the same tonight...but youve got more info than i have...

Wow...2-3 metres long nets...no wonder the calici doesnt knock em over in Vic if theyre that big...
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Ive just tried to get in contact with some "ferret people" over here...seems its all about rescuing them, so dont know if ill get any luck getting any.

SA Ferret Assoc looks as if it doesnt exist anymore...??...my old man had one of their stickers on his old ute that i ended up with...people would ask me about ferrets & laugh at me while asking what id want with them....mention rabbiting they'd stop laughing & looked scared when id ask them who kills their meat...


I remember going to pick up a new female one night from another breeder with the old man...he had lost one (he told me it died, but i who knows if he never retrieved it from a warren... ), and wanted to replace it for keeping his lines going...

Anyway, the bloke obviously didnt handle them much...she seemed nice & placid & was sitting in my arms, seemingly quite contented, when out of the blue she turned around, stretched up & latched onto my face...
Well my chin actually...little Fkn bitch wouldnt let go either...!!!...

Funnily enough it didnt really hurt too much at all...mustnt be too many nerves in that part of the skin... ...not like having them latch on to the soft parts of your hand anyway...you know about it then eh...!!!...

The old man ended up having to do the old blowing trick to get her to release..
.i must have stunk like something yummy to her...i never really liked that ferret after that--we just had this kind of fuk you thing going between each other & i refused to handle her when out ferreting...

[Blr243]

Do they get all spastic excited like a dog that knows you are taking them on a hunt ?

[Tiger650]

My late Dad taught Bro Bill and I to ferret about 55 yrs back, a great experience, back then you could hire ferrets and gear in Sydney.
Funny [especially to me] ferret Karma story.
Once my hideous eldest sister found a ferret wandering the streets of Randwick, a wonderful animal by all accounts [the ferret] but when she called a Vet to ask re feeding and maintenance she had to give it back to rightful owner.
Thinking nice ferrets she bought one which turned out to be an astute judge of character, it latched onto her face as happened to Stix, when goose hubby separated them the beast was returned to Pet Shop.
These days it would have died of Botox ingestion, I am surprised it survived back then, she is the moral equivalent of one of those Jap puffer fish things.

[marksman]

Do they get all spastic excited like a dog that knows you are taking them on a hunt ?

they can Blr, sometimes l have seen them jumping on all fours with excitement like in this vid https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPixDtLuz0Y
they get a wicked grin when they see a rabbit and they will also get the sh!ts if they get a rabbit out and you miss it, like look at you in disgust

there easy to feed, kitten kibble and some rabbit meat on the bone but never whole if you want them not to be stuck down the burrow
at the end of the day after a good workout l used to give them the kidneys and liver from a few rabbits on the way home

there are no naturally wild domesticated ferrets. If a pet ferret escapes, it rarely survives more than a few days for some reason

[Stix]

In addition to marksmans...agree yes they can jump around all spazo when theyre full of beans & know theyre gonna get a face full of bunny fur BLR...
But in my experience they most normally arent as obviously frisky as a dog, but when you know their characters & personalities, & know the animal in general, you can see the change in their behavior & know theyre just itchin to get on down that warren...!!...

Like any animal, & just like your dog, they build associations with things, & when they get stuffed into that small box & plonked in the back of the car, their movements can turn up a notch, like a crazy bear you'd be too scared to let out the cage...pacing back & forth & constantlly sniffing the air...

I know i shoot animals, but i love em as well, & seeing them happy--just like seeing your dog happy to go on a hunt, i rekon is happy infectious...going hunting is just good stuff all round, for us as well as our domesticated fellow hunters...just brings big smiles all round... ..
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Thought you were talking about my sister for a moment there Tiger...i thought, bloody hell i HAVE got a brother...
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My ol man used to feed em all the offal...as in heart lungs n liver, but he loves the kidneys so they were (still are) always his..., he also used to skin out the heads & chop em up with the hatchet...
Infact I do that for the farmers dogs & they absolutely love it...!!-(well, the few that dont get hit centre of mass with that little 32 grain explosive... )-only takes a minute to skin a bunny head when its hanging & you're used to doing it (just grab it & cut strips off while pulling--easy peasy if you can be effe'd... ), & then chop it up with a small hatchet--dogs ferrets & most animals love the fatty brain & a little crunch from the bones...i rekon its good value pet food myself...

I remember feeding the ferrets as a kid...even though they were all poofed out from a days hunt, seeing them mash away at fresh bunny liver was pretty cool i thought...
Amazing how they bury their face in something so dirty & bloody, but kept themselves so clean...well most of the time...sometimes youd see one with blood stains behind the ears & thank god i wasnt in the way of it when it lunged at the liver...

[Oldbloke]

Great memories of going ferreting with Pop and Dad when I was a kid.
Owned a couple and used to go out with my wife for a few years when we first married. Made all my own nets.

[TassieTiger]

Great memories myself with my grandad...
We used to dig a trench in back yard, with a couple spurs off to sides and put some boards down - to train the young ferrets.
We also would make some cylinder nets out of chicken wire, the rabbits would launch into the 2 foot deep tubes - stuck.
If it weren’t for the council poisons - bet there would be much more of this style (real world) of living still going on...

[Wombat]

I used to go ferreting with my Brothers a lot when we were kids, started with one and got two more out of burrows (along with possums and snakes) Ferrets that is not Brothers. The extras ended up being better than our original, had to dig that bugger out more than once and still bear the scars decades later.
Those extras must have been fairly newly lost, but did seem happy to see people. Notes were put up at the local shop but no one ever claimed them and there was no signs of nets or of any attempt to dig them out. I always assumed they were feral or lost for a long time.

[marksman]

l've had cats out of burrows as well, l tell you they are something that is truly evil and nasty when they are caught in a net

at one time my missus thought our ferrets had caught a chook because of the clucking she could hear at there cage, it was the ferrets
the three in the photo were named Alidar, Maxy and Theodore
if you have females they have to have at least one litter or they will die
l am going to get some more when my son is a bit bigger and can handle a shotgun easier

[Stix]

Well speaking of ferrets...you have to check this guy out...

If the apocolipse were to happen & you were lost in the bush without a feed, you'd sure want this fella to be with you & guide you out...go to 9:30...
The west the north, the east...whichever way its round-a-bout the same sorta place...

Poor bloody bunny's...stressing them out for so long before kill must make for some tuff chewing...

But ahh...good on him i spose...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdctrcBYvKQ

[marksman]

hunting with Olmate Murray
good one Stix