The famous five’s Hebridean adventure
Ed Cook recounts his latest ‘adventure’ with his friends, furry and otherwise, on Canna
It is crazy to think how quickly time has passed since we started the Canna project back in 2014. Craig has been the resident rabbit catcher over this time. During the past six years he has brought the cull tally close to 24,000.
The Cook gang recently made the journey north again to the ‘wee island’ in the Inner Hebrides. And what a journey — 14 hours in the car, sleeping in a car park followed by the pay-off: a three-hour rather rough ferry crossing, during which some of the team were reacquainted with their breakfasts.
Companions
Five of us made the trip: my brother Nath, good friends Mackerel, Tony and ‘night vision’ Kev, and me. The ones who had been to the island with me before knew what kind of endurance test awaited them. For the newbies, that delight was to be discovered.
Our task was to assist Craig for a week and remove as many rabbits as the weather would allow over the island’s four square miles or so. The terrain is, to say the least, challenging and can quickly put you in your place if you are not prepared.
February is not the most tropical month in this part of the world, but the stunning scenery, if you can see it, counteracts this. The first few days were glorious so we were to ferret by day and venture out at night, in addition to setting 100 or so drop boxes.
We ferreted for a few days and caught well with the dogs, which is always rewarding. It is a joy to see Craig’s lurcher bitch in action, marking warrens, gliding over burrows and catching rabbits in locations that make you cringe. She is certainly talented and fits the title ‘rabbit-catcher’s dog’.
Interference
We spent most of our nights walking the hills with a variety of calibres. The wind is something special in the west of Scotland, so we decided to try different calibres to the normal .17HMR, which are susceptible to interference from wind. We did use them on calmer nights but it was a good opportunity to test my new .204, a rifle I bought specifically for long-range rabbits and windy conditions.
Rabbits from 200yd to 300yd were achievable and the meat wasn’t badly affected. I fitted a drone x15 digital nightvision scope with a custom mount, which proved to be pretty efficient.
The latter end of our trip consisted of high winds, rain and another helping of strong winds. While we continued to catch nearly 300 rabbits, it did test everyone’s waterproofs to the limit. The weather taking a turn for the worse also meant our ferry home was postponed for a few days. There is always a risk of such a thing happening when travelling to a Hebridean island at this time of year.
I tried to lighten the mood by calling it an ‘adventure’, which fell on wet and deaf ears. As I said: the joy of discovery.
“The terrain is challenging and can put you in your place if you are not prepared”