FERRETING 89 



be allowed an occasional rest. If a rabbit is bolted 

 and shot, it should be pegged down outside the hole, 

 so that the ferret on coming out may find it at once, 

 and be rewarded. Should a ferret ' lay up ' or remain 

 a long time in a hole, another ferret on a line should 

 be run in, and the truant dug out ; hence the desira- 

 bility of choosing an easy place to begin with when 

 entering young ferrets. 



A rabbit will sometimes decllsne to bolt, and will 

 be killed in a burrow ; the ferret will then have a 

 gorge and 'lay up.' In that case the plan is to leave 

 a boy to watch the burrow, or to set a box-trap just 

 outside, and visit it next morning. 



An old ferret that has been used constantly in 

 the same neighbourhood, will learn to find its way 

 home like a dog. Instances of this ' homing instinct,' 

 as it has been termed, have been frequently com- 

 mented on, and reported. See The Fields January 25, 

 and February i and 8, 1873 ; January 23 and 30, 

 1886; March 17, 1888. 



The late Dr. G. J. Romanes, in his book on 

 ' Animal Instinct,' ^ states that on one occasion while 

 ferreting rabbits he lost a ferret about a mile from 

 home, and that some days afterwards the animal 

 returned. He adds : ' I once kept a ferret as a 



' Internat. Sci. Series, vol. xli. second edition, 1882. 



