Transporting Ferrets

While I was lugging my ferret box around I once again pondered why I carry such a heavy lump of wood around with me. I made it when in my late teens out of ten millimeter marine ply, I didn't have proper hinges so I used old leather from a dog collar which enabled the lids to move and it was fastened with more leather scrap pieces from an old game carrier. It has double compartments large enough for four ferrets. It usual load however was two jills in one side an a liner hob in the other. For small outing it contained a jill on one side with nets, ferret finder and odds and ends in the other side. It is painted with what ever needed using up so it looked more or less camouflaged, and finally its carrying strap was 'borrowed' from an old luggage bag.

A quarter of a century later I am still lugging it round, the only thing replaced has been one of the lids, which rats ate through one summer. So I suppose I have grown to like it. It is solid enough to sit on and ponder life while waiting for a laid up ferret to surface, or to serve as a solid lunch table.

Over the years I have tried all sorts of means of carrying my little pugs round. I bought a smart canvas bag with air holes and a draw string top. It was light and rugged but I found it was not very practical for anything but the shortest ferreting trip. It now houses my long net.

I found my ferrets soon realized that if they were quick they could turn themselves round and stick their heads out before I could close the drawstring, in addition if I did not tie the top really tightly they would work their way out. I was also never really happy with my ferrets in a bag, they seemed a little vulnerable to clumsy boots treading on them and cold and wet causing discomfort.

I had one jill who would happily go to sleep in the pocket of my Barbour, this was ideal in many ways; ferret in one pocket nets in the other. The problem with this was when I hung my coat up she would jump out and wander off to do her own thing, this was not so good.

Popular culture has it that ferrets can be kept down trousers, why anyone would want to do this is a mystery to me, and probably has more to do with the fevered imagination of those who do not hunt, they must assume we are all insane.

At the other end of the scale are the beautiful bow back ferret boxes that can be purchased from suppliers such as http://www.falconfabrication.co.uk/ which produce a really light plywood box, or if you prefer modern materials, http://www.dogtran.co.uk/ferret_boxes_cat-106 do a polypropylene which is light washable and look really good, proper hinges and catches and everything. I am far to mean to dish out the cash they want for these boxes so I guess I will stick to my old solid box and tell myself carrying the extra weight helps me to lose inches round my waist.