CH. VII.] Ferrets without Muzzles. 127 



there to find men who thoroughly under- 

 stood their business working their ferrets 

 under nets without muzzHng them. I 

 adopted the plan myself, and have rarely 

 had a ferret kill a rabbit underground. For 

 some reason that I could never find out, 

 a Cotswold rabbit will always bolt from a 

 hole with a ferret in if it can. It is well 

 known in Norfolk that if a rabbit is run 

 into a hole by dogs, you may ferret it if you 

 like, but it will never bolt, and it must be dug 

 out. But in Gloucestershire I have seen 

 the same rabbit bolt out of a hole, get shot 

 at, be run by dogs, go to ground, and again 

 bolt at once from a ferret. Few profes- 

 sionals ever use a line on a ferret on the 

 Cotswold, one reason being that the burrows 

 are nearly all in rocky ground, and there 

 would be danger of the line being caught in 

 the numerous cracks ; besides it is not re- 

 quired, for a rabbit there is sure to bolt, and 



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