CAN YOU DIG WHY IT’S LIFE AND DEATH?

Iconsider digging to be an art form. When your ferret’s life may depend on you being handy with a spade, it’s not to be scoffed at. It’s about considerably more than simply digging a hole.

It is a rescue and removal operation and it needs to be done quickly. Like a lot in life, if you know how to do it, you can view it as a simple task, but newcomers and occasional ferreters may not know everything as well as the regulars.

It’s about doing the simple things properly, starting with accurately locating your ferrets. Once you are happy with the location — after putting your finder somewhere safe so you don’t lose it — the dig starts.

Having the right spade for the right soil is helpful. Sandy soil requires a larger head. I generally use my small handmade metal spade these days. This is good enough for my digging because I’m not in so much of a rush to get going again as I used to be.

What a lot of newcomers forget is that if you dig a really narrow hole and it’s longer than your arms, you cannot get your shoulders in to get hold of your rabbit. Larger digs, especially in loose, sandy soil, must be done carefully to avoid a life-threatening cave in.

The importance of using a probe cannot be underestimated in locating the pipe. It is no coincidence that the probe is now used more than ever.

The experienced ferrets will back away as you get near to the pipe. I see very few that will stay when the roof is opened up, though they are deceptively quick in going back when it is safe to do so. Always backfill any holes and make the land as good as when you found it. I have seen many permissions lost by those who refuse to fill holes in. As I say, it’s a simple task that must be done properly.