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Digging deep

How deep can rabbit burrows go? What's the deepest hole you’ve had to dig? If my ferret should get lost in a big burrow would it be best to leave it there overnight and hope it had resurfaced the next morning?

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Ferrets
EDWARD COOK says: How long is a piece of string! Rabbits will burrow well passed a 15 foot ferret locator in places if the conditions are right.

Here in Hampshire, luckily, most burrows are between a foot and 2 1/2 feet deep as a rule. I?m not keen on digging holes so I tend not to dig ferrets out unless I have to. I have had times when a six foot hole was needed to retrieve a stuck ferret.

If I lose a ferret I place my ferret live catch traps in a few holes and block the rest. I bait the traps with a dead rabbit, which normally works. But if the ferret is stuck it may take some days to work its way to the surface, if locating equipment has failed.

No doubt some people will disagree but all ferrets should be fitted with locators as it?s not fair on the ferret otherwise. Sometimes ferrets will kill rabbits when they?re on the wrong side of a stopped end so it has no option but to eat its way out again.

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