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08 - Studies in the Art of Rat-Catching by Henry C. Barkley · Studies in the Art of Rat-Catching

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  Speaker 1: Chapter seven of Studies in the Art of rat Catching
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  Speaker 1: by H. C. Barkley. This LibriVox recording is in the
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  Speaker 1: public domain recording by Clive Catterell. Studies in the Art
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  Speaker 1: of Rat Catching by H. C. Barkley, Chapter seven. Rat
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  Speaker 1: catching and rabbit catching are two distinct professions, but the
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  Speaker 1: greater part of the stock in trade that serves for
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  Speaker 1: one will answer for the other. And it is as
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  Speaker 1: well for the professional to be a master of what
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  Speaker 1: I think I may call both branches of his business.
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  Speaker 1: A rat catcher who did nothing but kill rats and
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  Speaker 1: refuse to day's work with the rabbits would be like
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  Speaker 1: a medical man who would cut off limbs but would
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  Speaker 1: not give a pill, or a captain of a sailing
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  Speaker 1: vessel who would not go to sea in a steamer. Besides,
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  Speaker 1: in these days it is the fashion to jumble up
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  Speaker 1: half a dozen businesses under one head and name. Just
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  Speaker 1: look at what the engineer does. Why he is nowhere
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  Speaker 1: if he is not besides being ready as the engineer
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  Speaker 1: of the old school to make railways, et cetera. A chemist,
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  Speaker 1: an electrician, a diplomat, a lawyer, a financier, and a contractor,
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  Speaker 1: and even sometimes an honest man. If you are not
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  Speaker 1: in the fashion, you were left behind as an old fogie.
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  Speaker 1: And so in this chapter we will discuss the art
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  Speaker 1: of rabbit catching. And I trust all schoolmasters will furnish
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  Speaker 1: you their students with the opportunity of putting in practice
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  Speaker 1: in the field what you learn from this book at
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  Speaker 1: your desks. Well, now for the requirements. We have got
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  Speaker 1: the dogs, we have got the ferrets, spade, bag, et cetera.
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  Speaker 1: But for rabbiting we must have a much more costly
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  Speaker 1: stock in trade. If we are to do a big business,
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  Speaker 1: we shall require an ordinary gardener's spade for digging in
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  Speaker 1: soft sandy ground where the rabbit burrows sometimes go in
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  Speaker 1: for yards, and as much as ten feet deep down,
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  Speaker 1: and another spade longer in the blade than our ratting one,
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  Speaker 1: the sides more turned in, and with a handle ten
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  Speaker 1: feet long with a steel hook at the end instead
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  Speaker 1: of a spike. With this spade we can sink down
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  Speaker 1: many feet after the hole is too deep for the
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  Speaker 1: ordinary spade, and the turned in sides will hold the
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  Speaker 1: soft earth and allow you to bring it to the
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  Speaker 1: surface if you dig down on the top of a rabbit,
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  Speaker 1: as you will do when you know your work. The
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  Speaker 1: hook at the end will enable you to draw first it,
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  Speaker 1: then the ferret up by the string. We must have
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  Speaker 1: a piece of strong, light supple cord marked by a
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  Speaker 1: piece of red cloth drawn through the strands at every yard,
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  Speaker 1: so that one can tell exactly how far in the
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  Speaker 1: ferret is. And it is as well to have a
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  Speaker 1: second shorter cord for work in stiff, heavy ground where
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  Speaker 1: the holes are never deep. Next, we must have two
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  Speaker 1: or three dozen personets which are circular about two feet
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  Speaker 1: in diameter, with a string rove round the outside mesh
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  Speaker 1: fastened to a peg. These are for covering over bolt
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  Speaker 1: holes to bag a rabbit when driven out by the ferrets.
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  Speaker 1: The nets should be made of the very best string,
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  Speaker 1: so as to be as light and fine as possible.
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  Speaker 1: The mesh should be just large enough to allow a
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  Speaker 1: rabbit's head to pass through. Like the PostScript to a
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  Speaker 1: lady's letter, the chief item I have saved till the last,
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  Speaker 1: and I fear it will be some time before the
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  Speaker 1: ordinary rabbit catcher will be able to afford it. I
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  Speaker 1: refer to long nets which he used for running round
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  Speaker 1: or across a piece of cover to catch the rabbits
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  Speaker 1: as they are bustled about by the dogs. A rabbit
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  Speaker 1: catcher in full swing should have from eight hundred to
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  Speaker 1: a thousand yards of this, for with a good long net,
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  Speaker 1: he will often kill as many rabbits in a few
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  Speaker 1: hours as he could do with ferrets in a week.
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  Speaker 1: I myself keep no special dog for rabbit catching, chiefly
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  Speaker 1: because I have a neighbor who will always let me
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  Speaker 1: have a cunning old lurture that he keeps, which is
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  Speaker 1: as good as gold, and as clever as a lawyer,
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  Speaker 1: and desperately fond of a day with me and my dogs.
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  Speaker 1: I have three male ferrets, real monsters, strong enough to
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  Speaker 1: trot down a burrow and drag five or six yards
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  Speaker 1: of line after them with ease. Having described all the
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  Speaker 1: tools et cetera necessary for work, I will now jot down,
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  Speaker 1: as an exercise for you students, a nice easy days
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  Speaker 1: rabbiting that actually took place a few weeks ago, a
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  Speaker 1: sort of day that quite a young beginner might work
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  Speaker 1: with success. There had been a sharp rhyme frost in
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  Speaker 1: the night, which still hung about in shady spots at
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  Speaker 1: eight o'clock in the morning, as Jack and I marched
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  Speaker 1: off with my dogs and ferrets, accompanied by Old Fly
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  Speaker 1: the lurcher. By nine a m. We began working field
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  Speaker 1: hedgerows and banks, where rabbits were plentiful and had been
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  Speaker 1: established for years in every description of burrow. There had
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  Speaker 1: been a lot of partridge and other shooting going on
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  Speaker 1: over this farm for the last month, and most of
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  Speaker 1: the rabbits had got a dislike to sit in out
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  Speaker 1: in the open and were underground. So we began at
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  Speaker 1: the burrows at once, the dogs driving every rabbit that
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  Speaker 1: was sitting out in the hedge back to their burrows.
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  Speaker 1: As we walked along. We began work in a stiff
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  Speaker 1: clay bank, far too hard for the rabbits to make
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  Speaker 1: deep holes in, And here we got on fast. I
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  Speaker 1: took the ditch side. In fact, I took the ditch
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  Speaker 1: itself with a big ferret with a short line on,
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  Speaker 1: and I ran it into each hole. I came to
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  Speaker 1: Jack on the other side, looked out for the bolt holes,
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  Speaker 1: and always laid down a little to one side as
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  Speaker 1: much as possible, out of sight, but with a hand
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  Speaker 1: on the bank over the hole, ready to catch a
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  Speaker 1: bolting rabbit. Fly and the other dogs took charge of
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  Speaker 1: the other holes, and all kept as quiet as possible.
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  Speaker 1: In went the ferret, slowly, draking the line after him,
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  Speaker 1: till I count two yards gone by the red marks
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  Speaker 1: on the line. Then there is a halt for half
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  Speaker 1: a minute, then a loud rumbling. The line is pulled
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  Speaker 1: fast through my fingers. Jack moves quickly, and the next
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  Speaker 1: instant a rabbit has thrown a little way out into
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  Speaker 1: the field with its neck broken. Jack says, ferret out,
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  Speaker 1: then picks it up, draws the line through the hole,
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  Speaker 1: passes the ferret over to me, and we go on
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  Speaker 1: to the next having filled up the entrance of the hole.
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  Speaker 1: We have just worked. Hole after hole was ferreted much
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  Speaker 1: in the same way. Sometimes Jack bagged the bolting rabbit,
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  Speaker 1: sometimes the dogs and now and then one bolted and
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  Speaker 1: got into the hedge before it could be caught and
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  Speaker 1: went back, But it was little use, for the dogs,
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  Speaker 1: with fly at their head, were soon after it, and
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  Speaker 1: in a few minutes Fly was sure to have it
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  Speaker 1: and would retrieve it back to Jack. As we worked
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  Speaker 1: round a big field, we got into softer ground are
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  Speaker 1: red sand and soil mixed, and here the holes were
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  Speaker 1: much deeper and often ran through the bank and out
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  Speaker 1: for yards under the ground into the next field. Here
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  Speaker 1: Jack and I changed places, Jack doing the ferreting, and
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  Speaker 1: I going to his side with the garden spade. One two, three, four,
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  Speaker 1: five yards. The ferret went and stopped, and all was quiet.
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  Speaker 1: I listen, but not a sound. Jack pulls gently on
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  Speaker 1: the line and finds it tight, and for a minute
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  Speaker 1: we wait, hoping a rabbit may bolt from the hole
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  Speaker 1: the ferret went in at but no such luck. I
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  Speaker 1: take the small ratting spade and with the spike end
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  Speaker 1: feel into the ground at the foot of the bank,
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  Speaker 1: and at once come upon the hole. This I open
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  Speaker 1: out and clear of earth, and Jack, who has crept
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  Speaker 1: through the hedge, kneels down and finds the line passing
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  Speaker 1: this hole in the direction of the field and going downwards.
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  Speaker 1: At that moment there is a sound like very distant thunder.
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  Speaker 1: The line is pulled quickly four yards further into the hole,
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  Speaker 1: and the mark shows six yards in. I go about
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  Speaker 1: this distance out into the field, lie down and place
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  Speaker 1: my ear close to the ground. I shift about in
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  Speaker 1: all directions, listening intently, and at last hear a faint
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  Speaker 1: thudding sound. I shift again a few inches in this
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  Speaker 1: direction and lose it in that and recover it again
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  Speaker 1: a few inches, and the sound is directly under my head,
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  Speaker 1: but pretty deep down. I take the big spade and
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  Speaker 1: open out a hole a yard square and dig down
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  Speaker 1: as far as I can reach. I get into the
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  Speaker 1: hole and sink deeper. I have to enlarge it a
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  Speaker 1: foot all round to get room, and then I dig
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  Speaker 1: down again till only my head appears above the ground
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  Speaker 1: when I stand up. Then I take the long spade
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  Speaker 1: and with that sink two more feet and plump. I
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  Speaker 1: come on the top of the hole, and the ferret
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  Speaker 1: shoves the sand covered head up and looks at me.
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  Speaker 1: I reverse the long spade and catch the line with
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  Speaker 1: the hook and pull the ferret up, and then, calling Jack,
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  Speaker 1: I send him head first into the well like pit,
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  Speaker 1: holding on to one of his feet myself as I
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  Speaker 1: lie flat on the ground to allow him to go
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  Speaker 1: deep enough. In a minute, a dead rabbit is taken out,
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  Speaker 1: and two live ones whose necks. Jack breaks as he
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  Speaker 1: hangs suspended, and then I pull him up with his
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  Speaker 1: blunder and he rights himself on the surface, very red
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  Speaker 1: in the face, very sandy, spluttering and rubbing his eyes.
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  Speaker 1: Then the ferret is swung down again by the line
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  Speaker 1: it goes a little way into the hole and returns,
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  Speaker 1: and so we know we have made a clean sweep.
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  Speaker 1: The big hole is filled up and stamped down, and
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  Speaker 1: after filling a pipe and resting a few minutes on
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  Speaker 1: weaker with our work. On the high sandy part of
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  Speaker 1: the field. We have several deep digs like the above,
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  Speaker 1: with varying success, and we rejoice when we reach the
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  Speaker 1: last side of the field and get into clay again,
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  Speaker 1: where holes are short and most of the rabbits bolt
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  Speaker 1: at once. During all the day, we only stopped once
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  Speaker 1: for half an hour to get a snack of bread
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  Speaker 1: and cheese, and by the time the cock partridges began
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  Speaker 1: to call their families together for roost, and the teams
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  Speaker 1: in the next field knock off plowing, we are all
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  Speaker 1: man boy, dogs and ferrets fairly tired, and are glad
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  Speaker 1: to tumble seventeen couple of rabbits into the keeper's cart
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  Speaker 1: that has been sent out for them, and trudge off
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  Speaker 1: home ourselves. Now for another day's sport that was quite different.
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  Speaker 1: No dogs with us, only a bag of ready muzzled ferrets,
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  Speaker 1: a bundle of parsnets and a spade. Success will depend
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  Speaker 1: on perfect quiet, and even the patter of dog's feet
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  Speaker 1: would spoil our sport. So they are at home for once,
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  Speaker 1: and Jack and I are alone. It is one of
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  Speaker 1: those soft, mild, dull days that now and then appear
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  Speaker 1: in midwinter, a sort of day to gladden the heart
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  Speaker 1: of fox hunters and doctors, and to make wiseacres shake
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  Speaker 1: their head and say most unseasonable. It is a good
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  Speaker 1: day for Jack and me, and we feel confident as
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  Speaker 1: we steal into a plantation of tall spruce firs, placed
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  Speaker 1: so thick on the ground that beneath them is perpetual twilight,
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  Speaker 1: not a blade of grass or bramble to hide the
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  Speaker 1: thick carpet of needle points. Softly, we creep forward to
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  Speaker 1: a lot of burrows we know of in the corner
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  Speaker 1: of the wood, and then I go forward alone and
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  Speaker 1: spread a net loosely over every hole, firmly pegging it
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  Speaker 1: down by the cord. This done, I stand quietly down
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  Speaker 1: wind of the holes, and Jack comes and slips with
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  Speaker 1: the six ferrets all into different holes, and then crouches
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  Speaker 1: down on his knees. All is quiet, only the whisperings
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  Speaker 1: of the tree tops, the occasional chirp of a bird
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  Speaker 1: or the rustle of a mouse in the dead leaves.
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  Speaker 1: Five minutes pass, and then out dashes a rabbit into
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  Speaker 1: the net, which draws up round it. Jack moves forward
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  Speaker 1: on tiptoe, kills the rabbit and takes it out of
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  Speaker 1: the net and covers the hole again. While he is
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  Speaker 1: doing this, three more rabbits have bolted and got netted,
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  Speaker 1: one has escaped, and a ferret has come out. The
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  Speaker 1: captured ones are killed, the ferret sent into another hole,
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  Speaker 1: And for an hour this work goes on, and all
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  Speaker 1: during the time neither of us have spoken, for we
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  Speaker 1: know there is nothing that scares wild animals more than
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  Speaker 1: the human voice, unless it is the jingle of metals,
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  Speaker 1: such as a bunch of keys rattling. They dread the
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  Speaker 1: human voice because they have had too much experience of it,
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  Speaker 1: and the rattle of metal because they have not had
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  Speaker 1: experience enough of it, for it is a sound they
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  Speaker 1: have never heard, and nothing like in the quiet woods
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  Speaker 1: and fields. On the other hand, animals pay but little
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  Speaker 1: attention to a whistle, for in one shape or another,
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  Speaker 1: they are constantly hearing it from their feathered companions. But
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  Speaker 1: to go back to our netting. An hour over, we
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  Speaker 1: pick up the ferrets as they come out and bag them,
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  Speaker 1: and then I go off to some fresh holes and
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  Speaker 1: spread the nets again, and we repeat the same performance,
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  Speaker 1: and during the day we kill without any digging or
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  Speaker 1: hard work, about twenty two couple of rabbits. In the
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  Speaker 1: above account I have written of a day's sport that
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  Speaker 1: took place in a fur plantation and a little village
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  Speaker 1: in Norfolk, where it would have been madness to work
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  Speaker 1: the ferrets without mussling them, for they would have been
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  Speaker 1: sure to kill some rabbits in the holes and then
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  Speaker 1: have laid up. But I should mention that I have
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  Speaker 1: killed many rabbits in the same way in the Cotswold
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  Speaker 1: Hills in Gloucestershire, and I was much astonished when I
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  Speaker 1: first got there to find men who thoroughly understood their
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  Speaker 1: business working their ferrets under nets without mussling them. I
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  Speaker 1: adopted the plan myself and have rarely had a ferret
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  Speaker 1: kill a rabbit underground, for some reason that I could
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  Speaker 1: never find out. A Cotswalt rabbit will always bolt from
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  Speaker 1: a hole where a ferret in it if it can.
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  Speaker 1: It is well known in Norfolk that if a rabbit
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  Speaker 1: is run into a hole by dogs, you may ferret
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  Speaker 1: it if you like, but it will never bolt, and
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  Speaker 1: it must be dug out. But in Gloucestershire I have
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  Speaker 1: seen in the same rabbit bolt out of a hole,
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  Speaker 1: get shot at, be run by dogs, go to ground,
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  Speaker 1: and again bolt at once from a ferret. Few professionals
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  Speaker 1: ever use a line on a ferret in the Cotswold,
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  Speaker 1: one reason being that the burrows are nearly all in
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  Speaker 1: rocky ground, and there would be danger of the line
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  Speaker 1: being caught in the numerous cracks. Besides, it is not
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  Speaker 1: required for a rabbit there is sure to bolt, and
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  Speaker 1: for this reason it is twice as easy to kill
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  Speaker 1: rabbits in Gloucestershire as it is in Norfolk, especially in
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  Speaker 1: the sandy or soft soil of the latter county. Let
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  Speaker 1: me here beg all of my readers, especially students, never
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  Speaker 1: to keep a poor rabbit alive in their hands. A second.
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  Speaker 1: I don't suppose any who read this book could be
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  Speaker 1: so unsportsmanlike and brutal as to keep a rabbit alive
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  Speaker 1: to course and torture over again with dogs, or for
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  Speaker 1: the fun of shooting at the poor little beast. Such
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  Speaker 1: ruffians should never be allowed a day's sport on a
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  Speaker 1: gentleman's property. You are only fit to go out mole catching.
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  Speaker 1: No directly, you have a live rabbit in your hand,
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  Speaker 1: take it by its hind legs with your right hand,
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  Speaker 1: and the head with your left, with two fingers under
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  Speaker 1: its face. With these fingers, turn the head back. Give
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  Speaker 1: the rabbit a smart, quick stretch, and in an instant
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  Speaker 1: all its sufferings are over. Never hit it with your
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  Speaker 1: hand or a stick behind the ears, but first because
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  Speaker 1: you are not quite sure to kill it with the
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  Speaker 1: first blow. And secondly, if you do, half the blood
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  Speaker 1: in the rabbit will settle in the great bruise at
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  Speaker 1: the spot where it was struck, and make that portion
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  Speaker 1: unfit for table. That is sufficient for this morning, and
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  Speaker 1: you may now turn to a little lighter work with
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  Speaker 1: some algebra. End of chapter seven