HUNTING WITH FERRETS 



siesta anyway, rabbit or no rabbit. This is 

 very distressing to the hunters, especially 

 when the thermometer is away below the zero 

 mark. On these occasions the blood can be 

 quickened by travelling over the hills to the 

 nearest farm-house and getting the tools with 

 which to dig the ferret out. When the ground 

 is frozen for some ten feet or so this is not 

 an easy job. Tying a chain or a stout cord 

 to the ferret's leg will not work, for there are 

 often labyrinthian twists in a rabbit's burrow, 

 and an attempt to drag out your assistant may 

 only result in fetching out part of him. This 

 ruins a ferret for hunting purposes, no matter 

 how much it may soothe your wounded feel- 

 ings. 



By shouting down the burrow a moment 

 before the ferret is introduced into the aper- 

 ture you can almost always awaken the rab- 

 bit. This will do away with the dangers of 

 having the ferret fasten on to the rabbit while 

 both are underground. But for the inclina- 

 tion that a ferret will show to stay in the bur- 

 row sometimes, game or no game, there can 

 be no precautions taken except a large vocab- 

 ulary of uncomplimentary remarks for such 



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