The Ferrat - A Silent Stalker

The Ferrat - A Silent Stalker AG WORLD Ag World When I was a lad growing up on an Iowa farm we kept ferrets not for pets but for hunting Sending one of these weasel-size animals into a hole in the snow was a fun way to hunt cottontails Back in the 1930 s it was also an inexpensive way to put meat on the table
    Ferrets are nosey agile little guys Dad used to say a ferret has the sharpest teeth the loosest hide the quickest turns and the most guts of any animal its size He claimed a yearling could scare ground squirrels out of a bullsnake hole or gophers out of their run A well-trained ferret could flush more cottontails out of a woodpile in 20 min than a beagle could in 2 hours
    Ferreting which is now illegal for game animals was a proven hunting practice long before my time Farmers in parts of the Roman Empire used ferrets to supplement swords and stones The European fitch-ferret was introduced into the U S in the 1870 s These natural-born hunters came into widespread use in prairies and woodlands teeming with tasty rabbits and crop-chewing varmints My grandfather recalled raising ferrets on his farm in the 1880 s to protect corn patches from gophers and ground squirrels
    Ferrets produce litters of 4 to 6 and range in color from albino to mixed brown and white or black and white Dad said he didn t care what color they were as long as they could hunt He kept several in 6 by 8-ft cages in the barn with two or three per cage depending on their size A small jill is about 8 in long and could make a U-turn in a kerosene lamp chimney A hob was maybe twice that size and mean enough to rout a mink û its close cousin û from a creek bank My brother Pat and I usually did the ferret chores He was bit once when he forgot to wear heavy gloves But most of the time ferrets were downright gentle even playful until you poked them into a hole From then on they re all business
    We fed our ferrets meat scraps chicken guts and even stillborn pigs When they were 5 or 6 months old we took ferrets out to learn the ups and downs of routing rabbits and rats It was a natural instinct I don t recall a ferret ever refusing to hunt Dad was a caring clever trainer He would usually send 2 hob ferrets to flush game like gophers gray squirrels or woodchucks
    Hunting with ferrets during the winter was a great spectator sport especially for a kid They re inquisitive explorers especially when they re poking and sniffing down a rabbit s snow hole The cornered cottontail quickly plowed a new path in the snow alongside the snooping intruder When he saw the light at the end of the tunnel we could hear the rabbit thumping and clawing its way to the entrance Pat and I were waiting with clubs or burlap bags Sometimes we would catch them by hand but Dad had his shotgun in case we fumbled When the ferret flushed several rabbits from the den we d grab one whack him in the neck and get ready for the next one We tried to hold down bruising since Mom was particular about the ingredients for rabbit stew or fried rabbit and gravy
    A ferret s homing instinct was usually enough to bring him out of the hole Occasionally there were anxious delays when we weren t certain what our hunter had encountered in a dark den Sometimes a ferret would kill his prey and lie down for a nap Dad brought along a spade and sometimes he d whistle them out but he never resorted to using a leash Could make me and the ferret look stupid he said
    When a jill emerged from the hole she d curl up in Dad s well-lined jacket pocket He usually carried larger hobs in a 1-ft sq cage During the offseason we kept the ferrets in shape by sicking them after barn rats mice and ground squirrels A couple of ferrets turned loose under a post pile or corn crib made for good target practice My cousin Spud Horton who grew up in eastern Colorado said they used ferrets to control prairie dogs
    Recently there has been talk of legalizing ferreting with a daily bag limit during a short winter season The way it is now coyotes foxes hawks and other predators harvest rabbits on a no-limit basis Let s consider reviving the exciting sport of my boyhood when we could set the table without firing a shot

Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Rex Gogerty 33475 K Ave Hubbard Iowa 50122 dep@netins net

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