Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1886-12-11
HUNTING WITH FERRETS.
rHk ANIMALS rBAr Ans DsArH rO
rHE kABBiTs.
The Pot Hunters Of Thi. CITY Uss . Method q
Capturing Bunniss Ths, Is Ags,ns,
Law ana 10 Roundiy Denounced
10y True spostsm.n,

gan ON November lst, IN now almost over, IN
1t will close ON January LIST Game OF this
kind was reasonably plenty early in tho sea
son, but of late IL has been growing very
scarce. The season has not been near m good
rs previous onos. There arc several reasons
for tho scarcity ot rabbits, aud there Is one
In particular which tho elSrELLIaENcER has
discovered. A few days ago, before the snow
set In, reporter OF this paper met an old ana
well known sportsmen OF this city tho had
lust returned from two days cunning trip
and ask cd him what luck he had. Tho old
sport seemed out of sorts IA he replied.
"Woll | have been down In the lower end OF
the county for tho past two days and have
done great deal OF walking and hunting,
but all that succeeded In killing was n few
birds and three rabbit. | tell you,iyoubg
man, that rabbits are very scarce Just now,
and 1t is all owing to the fact that there are
too man ypot hunters who use ierreu- To- secure
o rabbits, instead OF powder and shot have
read many accounts OF cunning trips in the
papers and SEQ that occasionally some fellow
comes To town with lots of rabbits. Many
peopo believe tha' these amin Ais are all shot
hut know great deal better. They are
secured with ferrets, and 1t Is An outrageous
shame that the business IL allowed TO be
carried on. | know the names Of lots OF men
right In our own city who are engaged In this
work. and although do not feel like giving
them away some one really should do II. l
gun for sport and IL more men would do 40
there would bo more game To hunt legiti-
mately. There are plenty Of men In Iancss
tor who call themselves sportsmen, but are
constantly skirmishing around the country
with iorrets In their pockets 1 am getting
tired OF this work which IL against the law.
and as yet don't know what course exactly
tO pursue"
USING TERRETs FOR GAME.
tkn i,L
ing and he started out to Investigate this
matter. lie found that every word which
tho old gunner stated was the Gods truth and
that hundreds, II not thousands, OF rabbits
are killed every year In this county by "pot
hunters" with ferrets This, of course, In in
direct violation of the law, and, as the reader
may know what the law Is, we quote these
words from the act OF June 10, lSsl.
n y % person shall hunt or cause or permit
v lhe hunt ng of hsres or rabbits, with ferret
or ierrets under the ponalty of ten dollars for
each and every hare and rabbit caught or
Killed 10y means OF ferret or ierrets." "
There are probably a great many people
who do not know wnat ferrets are, For the
beneht OF them some explanation is neces-
sary. The animal is of tho weasel kind. 1t
ia native OF Africa, but has been domesti-
Gated in Europe and America. When
stretched at full length Il in from twelve
To fourteen inches long. but In able to
double itself up into very small space.
They can easily TO carried in q mans pocket l
The animals have red eyes, are cream colored
aud have very fine fur They are the natural
Gn&'y of rat or rabbit Both OF these
animals are very much afraid OF them and
Will Instantly flee at their appearance. Men
have taken advantage OF this fact 10 use the |
animals in catching rabbits.
INTO The dRoUNp.Mod HOLES. |
The pot hunters of this city use their fer |
rets in the lower ond OF the county where |
there are a great many grounding holes |
Early In the seison ferret hunting Is not of |
much account, ss the rabbits are then out |
Later about this time of the year the seek
protection from the cold 10y crawling into the |
holes OF the ground hogs and other animals
where they are hunted with ferTeta An
other reason that this Is the best season Of the
year for this nefariOus practice IL that the
farmers are now through with their work In
the helis and the hunters sre'n not So liable to
be detected. The presence oi rabbits in holes
IL asceriained in different ways They are |
sometimes discovered by hair on the outside |
while they are occasionally run there by dogs
or tracked through the snow. Tho recent |
fall OF snow has been OF great benefit TO the |
ferret hunters, and much work is being done
At present, When a hunter comes To "A hole
whore he has good reason 10 suppose there is
a rabbit, he puts in his ferret II the rabbit |
- in he Will come dashing out as soon ss he |
sees the ferret, only to tie caught in the bag |
which the hunter holds at the entrance OF the |
hole. Many men who use ferrets carry guns /
with them, but only do ~ tor a blind. Ii is |
, much easier 10 catch rabbits with aierret and |
th@5 are not so likely to attract attention and |
be disturbed. Others do not even carry guns /
but quietly place their ferrets in holes and |
bag the game. \ man with n dog, gun and |
ferret can clean out all tho rabbits In neigh |
bOrhOod in short time.
GREAT CARE IN HANDLING.
A great deal Of care must be taken in the /
handling OF ferrets. They have very sharp |
teeth and liable To bite. II placed |
In a hole aud they succeed in killing a rabbit |
they will suck tho blood from him aud then /
go to ssleep on the CARCASS. The gunner IL
then unable to get them out" There are dii. |
ferent ways OF obviating this, however. For |
merly 1t was the custom TO use a small muZ /
lie which was placed over the ierret's head /
tu prevent them from biting the rabbits. /
This is not satisfactory, however, ss the muZ' i
zle often becomes entangled and fastened in
the roots, etC., which are found in holes, and |
1t il impossible to get the animal out An |
other way Is to unite the upper and lower /
lips of the animal with thread so as they are /
unable to open their mouths. This IL very |
cruel, however, and the best way yet discoy
cred IL to break oil the teeth OF the animal 30 |
that in case the rabbit is caught he cannot be |
killed by the ferret bite which Is almost in |
stantly fatal. IL IL seldom, however, that the /
rabbit waits To he caught, he leaves In /
tercOr even II the ferret does not touch him.
Some persons handle the ferret with gloves
for IL they have blood on their hands the |
animal will attempt to bite Ferrets are In. |
clined To be very sleepy and sometimes will |
tako maps in the hole. The hunter then be-
comes worried and he raps on the ground
about the hole to waken and bring him out
Sometimes he fails to arouse the animal and
is compelled to go away without him. In
such a case a stone Is placed over the hole 30
that the animal cannot get away when he does
come to the top IL Is often necessary for the
hunter to 20 10 the hole several times before
he il successful in securing his ferret, and
sometimes they get away entirely. When the
animal fails To come out the hunter becomes
excited, not only on account of his loss, but
Tor fear that he may be detected in trying 10
recover the ferret The other day a we'll
known gunner residing In the western part
of the town, who attends nearly all OF the
pigeon matches, was found In "a field by
farmer. lie had ferret in a hole and
the farmer upon discovering 1t raised big
noise The hunter became frightened and
succeeded in hushing the farmer up by CIV
ing him couple OF dollars.
THE PEOPLE WHO USE FERRErs.
Many OF our readers will no doubt ask
what kind of people use ferrets, and they
would be very much surprised II they were
TO SEQ their names. As rule, ferrets are
used by men who are not hunting for the
real sport that IL in it. or are desirous of kilt
ing few for their own eating. No the fer
ret men are securing rabbits tor the marke
aud It matters little to them how many they
Kill, they are never satisfied, but always
want more. There are several well-known
gunners, men of prominence In this city,
however who use ferTets In order to get