AT PATHO

Am I the only person who has never had any experience of these strange little creatures?

I have Spring frenzy. A balmy Spring day saw me spending my day working in the garden, too busy even to be taking photos of my progress. I’ll do that tomorrow.

I wondered if anyone might be interested in last weekend’s activity on the farm. We had visitors arrive with their ferrets and ferreting gear, hopeful that they might catch a rabbit or two. These ferrets are all being raised for the purpose of chasing rabbits out of their burrows. They all have names and are extremely well loved and trained by the family who care for them. Snowball, Queenie and Snowwhite all had quite different personalities.

My only experience, or lack of it, with ferrets led me to believe that they were vicious, nasty animals. Far from it. Though I’m too nervous to touch them, the kids who raise them, cuddle them and claim that they make great pets.

In this case a net was quickly erected around the burrow. Then the ferrets were let loose. They disappear into the burrow and a little while later the rabbits will emerge stressed and frantic to escape. They head straight into the nets and get tangled. They are extracted from the nets and put into cages. They can be used for food or fed to the dogs and/or ferrets.

This area on the farm will be growing lucerne again after some rain. However, during the winter the rabbits have invaded and created some extensive burrows. We are reluctant to use poison on the rabbits, so we are using other techniques try to reduce their numbers.

It’s a win for everyone except the poor bunnies. Over 20 were caught. Sadly for us, that doesn’t make much of a dint in their numbers.