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07 - 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 six 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 Catterel. Studies in the Art
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  Speaker 1: of Rat Catching by H. C. Barkley, Chapter six. I
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  Speaker 1: trust that in the five chapters I have written, I
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  Speaker 1: have said enough to give some of my scholars a
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  Speaker 1: slight taste and liking for the profession I am advocating,
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  Speaker 1: and in some small degree have weaned their young affections
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  Speaker 1: from such pernicious pastimes as studying classical authors, doing sums,
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  Speaker 1: and cutting their names on their desks. If I have
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  Speaker 1: not done this, I have written to little purpose, and
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  Speaker 1: I fear the next chapter will damp off a few
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  Speaker 1: who have only followed me and my dogs on fine
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  Speaker 1: days in pleasant paths. But I may as well tell
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  Speaker 1: you at once that life is no more all beer
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  Speaker 1: and skittles in rat catching than it is in such
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  Speaker 1: minor professions as the army, the church, the bar, school keeping,
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  Speaker 1: et cetera. And just to see if you are real
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  Speaker 1: grit boys, I will show you another picture. Jack, get
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  Speaker 1: the ferrets while I let the dogs out. We must
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  Speaker 1: go and see if we can find a few rats,
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  Speaker 1: for it is a week since the ferrets had flesh,
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  Speaker 1: and we shall have them getting ill. And Jack, bring
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  Speaker 1: four in the little bag and put that inside your
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  Speaker 1: game bag, for it looks like rain, and I don't
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  Speaker 1: like to see them half drowned. Yes, it does look
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  Speaker 1: like rain, though as yet it is only a dull, misty,
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  Speaker 1: chilly day in mid November down here in the country.
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  Speaker 1: But in London it is thick black fog, and all
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  Speaker 1: work is being done by gaslight. It is bad and
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  Speaker 1: depressing here, but ever so much worse there. So cheer up,
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  Speaker 1: dogs and step out. Jack. We will go down by
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  Speaker 1: the Beck and home by the clay pits, for I
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  Speaker 1: know of no other place near where we are so
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  Speaker 1: likely to find a few rats, and I don't want
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  Speaker 1: to make a long day of it. Go over the bridge,
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  Speaker 1: check you take that side with chance at a young one,
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  Speaker 1: and I will do this side with the other dogs.
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  Speaker 1: Hi in dogs, search 'em out, lads, and on we go.
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  Speaker 1: But in two miles we only kill a water hen
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  Speaker 1: that Pepper catches as it rises out of some sedges,
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  Speaker 1: and which goes into my bag to replenish the ferret's larder.
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  Speaker 1: The mist hangs low. The bushes are wet, the ground soft,
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  Speaker 1: and there is a dreary sigh in the wind. The
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  Speaker 1: cattle are eating fast, as they always do before rain,
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  Speaker 1: and the sheep, startled by the sight of the dogs,
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  Speaker 1: caper and jump as they gallop all down the meadow,
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  Speaker 1: and again their playfulness warns me of a wet tramp home.
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  Speaker 1: Some young colts stand at the door of an open shed,
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  Speaker 1: dull and depressed looking, and the horses plowing on the
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  Speaker 1: sides of the hill send up a thick steam. No
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  Speaker 1: birds twitter or sing, No insects, hum distant sounds, muffled
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  Speaker 1: and indistinct. The teams in the wagons on the road
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  Speaker 1: hard by creep along and take little notice beyond a
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  Speaker 1: toss of the head at the carter's whip as he
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  Speaker 1: walks beside them, with a heavy step cracking it. The
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  Speaker 1: only brisk thing to be seen is the doctor's gig
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  Speaker 1: as it whisks past high up dogs. Shake yourselves and
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  Speaker 1: don't go to sleep. Come over, Jack, I have had
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  Speaker 1: enough of this brook. And if we don't find at
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  Speaker 1: the clay pits home we go, and we trudge off
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  Speaker 1: to some ponds half a mile further away. They are
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  Speaker 1: well known to both men and dogs, and the latter
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  Speaker 1: bolt on ahead and arrive first. And when we come
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  Speaker 1: up we find them all clustered round a hole in
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  Speaker 1: a high bank midst thick dripping bushes. In goes a ferret,
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  Speaker 1: but not in the way I like to see. There
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  Speaker 1: is no hurry, no ecstatic wriggle of the tail as
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  Speaker 1: it slowly draws itself into the hole. Then all stand
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  Speaker 1: round expecting to see a rat take a header into
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  Speaker 1: the pond, but no. Five minutes passed and Pepper begins
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  Speaker 1: to move and is told to stand. Ten minutes passed,
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  Speaker 1: and Jack gets restless. Fifteen minutes and I begin to
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  Speaker 1: shift my feet, which are planted deep in sticky mud
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  Speaker 1: by the side of the pond, And just then the
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  Speaker 1: first drops of rain appear. Ah, there is the ferret.
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  Speaker 1: Jump up and get it, Jack, But before he can
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  Speaker 1: do so, it has drawn itself into the hole backwards,
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  Speaker 1: which means that it has killed a rat inside, and
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  Speaker 1: that it only came out to tell us so, and
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  Speaker 1: that it was going back to have a good long
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  Speaker 1: sound sleep. Curled up by the rat's warm body, there
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  Speaker 1: is nothing for it but to dig it out, And
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  Speaker 1: oh what a dig all among roots and thorns on
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  Speaker 1: the sloping sides of the pond, in thick, sticky clay,
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  Speaker 1: with the rain coming down in a steady paw. Jack
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  Speaker 1: hunches his back and leans against a tree. Pepper and
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  Speaker 1: Wasp wander away down a ditch and scratch for an
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  Speaker 1: hour at a drain that has a rabbit in it,
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  Speaker 1: and the old dogs sit and watch me and drip
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  Speaker 1: and shiver. I dig here, I dig there, I slip
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  Speaker 1: and fall on the bank. The water mixed with yellow clay,
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  Speaker 1: runs up my arm from the spade, and yet that
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  Speaker 1: beastly ferret sleeps peacefully in its warm bed. I lose
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  Speaker 1: the hole, come down on roots as thick as my leg,
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  Speaker 1: and stones that strike fire as the spade strikes them.
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  Speaker 1: And so two hours of discomfort to all drift by,
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  Speaker 1: and I am just feeling about for the last time
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  Speaker 1: with the spike end of the spade when I again
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  Speaker 1: hit off the hole and opening it out come upon
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  Speaker 1: a nice, warm rat's nest made of leaves, with a
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  Speaker 1: ferret curled up snugly with a dead rat. Home dogs home,
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  Speaker 1: cheer up, Jack, cold are you and wet? Well? Never mind?
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  Speaker 1: Only two miles and we will walk fast. Pepper, pepper, wasp, wasp,
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  Speaker 1: Where on earth have you got to? Ah? There you are,
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  Speaker 1: and a nice mess you have made of yourselves, trying
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  Speaker 1: to scratch out a whole five hundred yards long. Come along, all,
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  Speaker 1: and off we tramp Jack and I in the middle
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  Speaker 1: of the road, splish, splash at every step, the water
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  Speaker 1: squirting high up our gated legs, and the dogs with
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  Speaker 1: drooping tails, dripping coats and woebegone looks coming along behind
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  Speaker 1: us in indian file. Close under the shelter, such as
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  Speaker 1: it is of the hedge, we pass the postman lonely
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  Speaker 1: nods and meet a flock of sheep, all draggled and dirty.
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  Speaker 1: An empty cart with a sack over the seat stands
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  Speaker 1: at the pothouse, and pigs wander listlessly about the yard
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  Speaker 1: with their backs arched up under the wagon shed. Some
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  Speaker 1: cocks and hens stand each on one leg with their
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  Speaker 1: tails drooping, apparently too disgusted to prune their feathers, and
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  Speaker 1: fly up to roost in the rafters. The smoke beats
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  Speaker 1: down from the chimneys and gets lost in the wind
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  Speaker 1: and rain, which buffets and pelts at our back. Cold
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  Speaker 1: spots begin to be felt at the bend of our
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  Speaker 1: arms and knees. Then a shiver runs down the back,
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  Speaker 1: which develops into a trickle of water that at last
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  Speaker 1: gets into our boots and goes squish squish at every step,
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  Speaker 1: and at last ooze is over the tops, and our
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  Speaker 1: teeth chatter with cold. For now here and there among
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  Speaker 1: the rain drops appear a few flakes of snow, which
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  Speaker 1: rest on the mud of the road for a second
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  Speaker 1: and then melting, add to the deep slush that trickles
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  Speaker 1: down the hill by our side. At every open shed.
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  Speaker 1: The dogs shelter a minute, shake themselves like dripping mops,
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  Speaker 1: and with arched backs, stand on three legs and shiver.
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  Speaker 1: But we whistle them on, and at last reach home.
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  Speaker 1: After throwing a good bundle of dry straw on the
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  Speaker 1: cannel benches and feeding dogs and ferrets, Jack and I
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  Speaker 1: get under shelter, and soon find ourselves in dry clothes
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  Speaker 1: before a good fire, feeling a little swollen and stiff
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  Speaker 1: about our faces and hands, and much inclined for forty winks.
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  Speaker 1: The wind howls at the chimney, lashes the bare branches
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  Speaker 1: of the trees, rattles the window frames, and appears angry
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  Speaker 1: that it cannot get at us. The rain drives in
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  Speaker 1: fitful gusts against the windows and hisses in the big
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  Speaker 1: wood fire on the hearth, And as I sit in
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  Speaker 1: my snug arm chair, I dimly feel that the external
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  Speaker 1: storm adds greatly to the internal comfort. And then I
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  Speaker 1: fancy I not off to sleep, for I think no
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  Speaker 1: more till supper is announced and hunger and my wife
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  Speaker 1: stir me to consciousness again. Having finished a good supper
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  Speaker 1: and got my pipe drawing beautifully, I remember one or
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  Speaker 1: two things that I think the student should be told.
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  Speaker 1: The first is never put a line on a ferret
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  Speaker 1: when ratting. It hammers a ferret in a narrow, twisting,
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  Speaker 1: turning rat's hole and cutting into the soft earth. The
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  Speaker 1: turns soon brings the ferret to a dead stop. Then
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  Speaker 1: a rat's holes chiefly in hedge banks, which are full
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  Speaker 1: of roots, and the line is pretty sure to get
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  Speaker 1: twisted round some of these, and then it will be
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  Speaker 1: a long dig to free it. Remember, too, a ferret
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  Speaker 1: has to go down the hole and face a beast
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  Speaker 1: nearly as big as itself, with teeth like lancets, and
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  Speaker 1: with courage to use them. And so should be as
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  Speaker 1: free as possible, and lining a ferret is about equal
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  Speaker 1: to setting a student with the gloves on to fight
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  Speaker 1: against another without them. Then, some way back I mentioned
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  Speaker 1: ferret's bells. They are little hollow brass balls with an
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  Speaker 1: iron shot in them that make a pretty tinkling sound,
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  Speaker 1: and are supposed to be tied round the ferret's neck.
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  Speaker 1: In my opinion, if you put a bell on it,
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  Speaker 1: you may as well put the ferret in the bag
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  Speaker 1: and keep it there. The theory about bells is that
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  Speaker 1: a ferret running down a hole jingling its bell will
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  Speaker 1: fill a rat with fear and make it bolt. But
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  Speaker 1: this is all nonsense. Rats are not so easily frightened. Again,
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  Speaker 1: it is said that if a ferret comes out of
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  Speaker 1: a hole in a thick hedge unseen, the bell will
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  Speaker 1: let you know where it is. But I must say
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  Speaker 1: I never lost a ferret in a hedge or felt
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  Speaker 1: the want of a belled one. I consider a bell
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  Speaker 1: a useless dead weight on a ferret, and the cord
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  Speaker 1: that goes round its neck to fasten it is apt
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  Speaker 1: to get hitched onto a root and hold the ferret
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  Speaker 1: a prisoner. A bell is only good for a sharp
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  Speaker 1: shopman to sell to a flat I need hardly say
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  Speaker 1: never muzzle a ferret when rat catching. It would be
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  Speaker 1: brutal not to let the ferret have the use of
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  Speaker 1: its teeth to protect itself with muzzling. Ferrets appertain solely
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  Speaker 1: to rabbiting, but it is useful to know how to
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  Speaker 1: do it. Take a piece of twine a foot long,
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  Speaker 1: double it and tie a loop at the double. Tie
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  Speaker 1: the string round the ferret's neck with a loop on
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  Speaker 1: the top. Bring the two ends down under the chin
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  Speaker 1: and tie them together there. Pass them over the nose
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  Speaker 1: and tie them there, shutting the mouth tight. Pass one
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  Speaker 1: string along the nose between the eyes, through the loop
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  Speaker 1: on the top of the neck, and bending it back,
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  Speaker 1: tie it to the other loose string from the knot
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  Speaker 1: on the top of the nose. Cut the ends off,
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  Speaker 1: and provided you have not made a lot of granny knots,
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  Speaker 1: your muzzle will keep on all day. There are other
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  Speaker 1: ways of doing the trick, such as passing the string
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  Speaker 1: behind the ferret's dog teeth, bringing it under the jaw,
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  Speaker 1: and then over the nose on the top of the neck,
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  Speaker 1: tie it there and again under the neck. I hate
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  Speaker 1: this plan, and have seen a ferret's mouth badly cut
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  Speaker 1: by the string. I have heard of another plan, which
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  Speaker 1: is too brutal to mention, cut the muzzle off directly.
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  Speaker 1: You have done with it, for I don't suppose a
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  Speaker 1: ferret likes having its mouth tied up any more than
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  Speaker 1: you or I should never wantonly hurt any animal, especially
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  Speaker 1: those that work for you and suffer in your service.
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  Speaker 1: Just think of the amount of pluck a ferret shows
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  Speaker 1: each time you put it into a rat's hole. Fancy
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  Speaker 1: yourself in its place, going down a lot of dark,
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  Speaker 1: crooked passages that you don't know, only just wide enough
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  Speaker 1: to an eye you to pass, and have to face
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  Speaker 1: a beast somewhat like yourself and as big, but you
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  Speaker 1: know will attack you. Why if ferrets got vcs, they
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  Speaker 1: would on high days and holidays when they wished to
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  Speaker 1: display them all have to employ a string of sandwich
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  Speaker 1: men walking behind them with the boards covered with v C.
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  Speaker 1: Three or four times in my life I have had
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  Speaker 1: ferrets die of the wounds they have received from rats.
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  Speaker 1: I have had them in hospital for weeks, and I
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  Speaker 1: have had them blinded. Speaking of blind ferrets, I am
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  Speaker 1: not much of an oculist, but I don't believe a
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  Speaker 1: ferret can see in the dark. I never could find
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  Speaker 1: any difference between the way my blind ferret worked in
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  Speaker 1: a hole and that of one with good eyes. In fact,
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  Speaker 1: my blind ferret was as good a little beast as
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  Speaker 1: ever killed a rat, and she did kill many a
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  Speaker 1: score after she lost both eyes. I believe that a ferret,
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  Speaker 1: when in a hole, uses a sense we don't possess.
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  Speaker 1: I mean the sense of touch with the long nose whiskers.
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  Speaker 1: Some years ago the Field opened its pages to a
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  Speaker 1: long discussion on the subject of ferrets sucking the blood
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  Speaker 1: of their victims after they have killed them. Writers pretending
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  Speaker 1: to know all about it, said they did so these
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  Speaker 1: men are to be pitied, not laughed at, For you see,
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  Speaker 1: in the days of their youth, rat catching for the
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  Speaker 1: use of schools was not written, and therefore they had
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  Speaker 1: not learnt better. A ferret no more sucks the blood
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  Speaker 1: of the things it kills than a dog does. If
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  Speaker 1: you doubt this, give a fresh killed rat to a ferret,
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  Speaker 1: let it fasten on it, and then peep at the
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  Speaker 1: corners of its mouth, and you will find an opening
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  Speaker 1: there into the mouth out of which blood would flow.
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  Speaker 1: If the ferret had it in its mouth, and look
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  Speaker 1: down its throat. You will not find blood in it,
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  Speaker 1: nor will there be blood on the portion of the
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  Speaker 1: rat that has been hailed in its mouth. No people
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  Speaker 1: are misled by a ferret sending its teeth deep home
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  Speaker 1: into the flesh and making a sucking sound as it,
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  Speaker 1: with difficulty breathes through its nose and at the corners
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  Speaker 1: of its mouth. If you watch a ferret after it
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  Speaker 1: has killed a rat, it will, as soon as it
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  Speaker 1: is sure the rat is dead, begin chewing at the
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  Speaker 1: skin of the head or throat till it has made
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  Speaker 1: an entrance, and will then meet the flesh. To finish
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  Speaker 1: this chapter, I will tell you a story which you
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  Speaker 1: are never to put into practice. Some long time ago,
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  Speaker 1: I found myself far from home in a country village,
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  Speaker 1: and having nothing to do, I went for a walk
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  Speaker 1: and soon came upon a brother, professional rat catcher, and,
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  Speaker 1: thinking I might learn a wrinkle from him that would
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  Speaker 1: come in useful, I joined him and carefully watched him
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  Speaker 1: and his dogs. I I saw at once that three
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  Speaker 1: of the latter were very good and up to their work.
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  Speaker 1: But there was a fourth, a nondescript sort of beast
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  Speaker 1: with a long tail that appeared quite useless, and I
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  Speaker 1: observed with amusement that directly the man put a ferret
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  Speaker 1: into the hole. The dog tucked its tail tight between
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  Speaker 1: its legs and went and stood well out into the field.
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  Speaker 1: I asked the man why he kept such a useless beast,
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  Speaker 1: and with a chuckle, he answered, well, mate, I own up.
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  Speaker 1: He ain't much to boast on for ratkilling, nor yet
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  Speaker 1: for looks, but he has his use like some other
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  Speaker 1: of we ugly ones. You see, sir, I've got one
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  Speaker 1: or two ferrets as won't come out of a owl,
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  Speaker 1: but stand a peeping at the entrance and waste a
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  Speaker 1: lot of time. Then that year dog comes in useful.
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  Speaker 1: I catches him, lifts him up and sticks his bushy
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  Speaker 1: tail down to the ferret, who catches tight old, and
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  Speaker 1: I draws it out. Nothin ain't made for nothing, and
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  Speaker 1: I expect that dog was made for drawing ferrets. The
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  Speaker 1: man may have been right, but I was quite sure
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  Speaker 1: the unfortunate dog did not take an active pleasure in
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  Speaker 1: his vocation. There, young gentlemen, if you have well digested
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  Speaker 1: that chapter and forgotten the story at the end, you
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  Speaker 1: can put up your books and form up for your
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  Speaker 1: usual walk to the second milestone and back again. But
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  Speaker 1: before leaving, let me point out to you, Croker Minor,
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  Speaker 1: that if that caricature I have observed you drawing behind
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  Speaker 1: your book is meant for me, it is like most
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  Speaker 1: things you do incorrect. My nose is not so long,
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  Speaker 1: and I part my hair on the left side, not
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  Speaker 1: the right. End of Chapter six