Top Banana!

Simon Whitehead is brimming over with excitement as he takes one of his youngsters ferreting for the first time to harvest some rabbits

It may be late October but I was feeling like I used to on Christmas Eve as a child. I still become restless and brim over with excitement and anticipation when I take one of my young ferrets out to work for the first time. It is humbling experiencing everything as if it was my first time; that is what happens when you are connected, a team. The ferret shed was a hive of activity, ferrets all hanging off their wire-mesh doors, willing me to pick them. They had to be patient, though, their time will come.

The early-morning mist mantled the road as I focused on my driving, but I could still hear the constant scratching of Mustelidaen claw on wood as it overwhelmed the creaks and groans of my aging truck. As I opened the haggard wooden gate of a grassy Suffolk paddock, the church bells tolled, echoing through the stagnant, misty air. The atmosphere was as heavy as the pause between strikes. It was like a film set from Victorian England. All that was needed to finish such a dramatic entrance was the appearance of a tophatted procession, but alas, the only procession I wanted to see today was that of rabbits into my nets, or so I convinced myself.

The grass was longer than usual. The virulent myxomatosis disease had paid a visit a few weeks ago and, though there were rabbits in residence, they were not in the volume I would have anticipated. This is of grave concern and the winter’s diary has been heavily affected. I was working novice ferrets today, but I had also promised Steve Tricker, the award-winning pie maker from Truly Traceable, that I would produce at least a dozen large rabbits.

As I opened the tailgate of the truck, I could see a few scuts disappearing into the hedgerow but none down the warrens I had my eye

digs were dusty and hard going on. But any concerns evaporated the moment the dogs were let out of the truck to answer a call of nature, with two lurchers marking, multi-tasking as I started to drop the nets.

As usual for home, the warrens were sandy, dry and deep, and the crusty ground made inserting the long-net poles troublesome. As

I was working some novices, I wanted to make their experience as simple and as enjoyable as possible. This

“Babs scuttled back underground momentarily, then another emerged. Different rabbit, same result”

ruled out getting them entangled in purse-nets, not that I use them a lot these days.

Once the hard work was done by the ferrets underground, above ground Bella would pressurise the bolters and let the welcoming nets do the rest. Bella was being worked because Tawny was not only in season but also isn’t as good around nets as

Late October and Simon was