The sun., 1897-01-10
Nav and Septen. her

this nest tho young are brought forth every
The ferrets live in these narrow quarters
with apparent content, and the young once
crow up as tame ana docile as kittels VIVID
they will bite tn" hand that tuempts to cor.
nsr them. bu: those resred on the farm have
young ferrets can be handled without any
training. but the parents are inclined TO be
rne has o paS OF onrs ars
made OF two laths nailed together in such a
way that an unruly mother can be caught and
held by the neck until the young ones are re-
The ferrets are fed scraps of meat. bread.
dog will eat. They Are very fond OF rabbits.
SQUIRRELS. mice. and rats. and such delicacies
f"d TO them once or twice week keep their
Instincts strong and alert They take to hunt
Ing these animals without nnv training. and
the owner may not even show them rat hole
Instinct guides them Into tho hole after the
rat, and good good appetite VIII do the rest.
ond 10 S'% his %h.s all r h' s Do to
taught to the animals by whistlinG for them
every mesi time. The old ones naturally re-
and the young ones follow more slowly. In
time, however. they learn that TO get their
Jim's whistle. Wien taken Into the ted for op
hunting. the ferrets must 10 taught to obey
the hunters Just as readily as the hounds. The
which can be slung over tho shoulder by
means OF strap, some Of tho creatures can
HtNtT De broken OF lne nhDlt or ueNOuIing the
rabbit when caught. and II is necessary TO
muzzlo all such ferrets with q soft leather
mnnzle, that comes FOR this purpose
When the dog chases the rabbit into its hole
the ferret 10 taken out or the bag and set free
Instantly IL selects tho hole OF the rabbit and
enters IL. frighteninR the rabbit so that IL
rushes headlong from the burrow. Az IL
emerHas from the hole the hunter can either
shoot IL with his gun or catch It alive with a
sack o. net spread out FOR IL. This latter
method is the fRvorite ono for catching live
rabbits for stocking preserves. The rabbit
rarely permits the ferret To catch IL IN its bur.
row, but II frightened baok IL may fall victim
70 the ferret, IN which case the latter will Kill
H. and probably devour 1t.
When hunting either for rabbits or rats. the
dogs have 70 be taught that the terrets are
touch these friends. II takes some time to
break good hound OF his tendency TO catch
and XIII the ferrets, but II can 10 done with "A
lltt!e patience md perseverance,. In hunting
rats only the old ferrets are employed, for the
big whasf rats arc frequently n good match
Tor Young Ferret. IL the rats happen TO
have nest OF young ones 10 guard, they Will
offer combat to a single 'erret, and tLe connlct
Is sometimes disagreeably uncertain. When
several ferrets are used. however To drive the
rats OUT or their holes, and dogs are employed
10 eaten them AS they emerge from them, tile
work progresses rapidly. The rats become de-
moraIiZed az seeing 80 many enemies, and
they easily fall victims TO either the dogs, fer
res, OF tho sluDr or the boys and mon.
From 30 70 100 rats have been killed I'm one
day by Ferret Jim.v with three ferrets and
two hounds 20 help him. and this number conid
oe increased IL the rats were sufficiently mn
merous. In addition 10 the rata that the fer
Tets chase and Kill. there are many young ones
uA' 1ney destroy In their nsstA