Irish Extra March 2022
March well and truly signals the end of the sporting season. As game shooting ends in January so does the season for Deer stalking come and end in February – If you have had a busy and enjoyable season its sometimes not bad to see the end of winter and things can slow down a little bit for a little while. March for me is a time for getting all those little odd jobs done that get left behind during the winter and this year there are plenty of them both inside and out and my good lady adds to the list quite often and reminds me as well, just in case I should forget. The grass will need its first of many cuts and then there will be hedges to cut and trees to prune as well painting here and there. On top of that there will be many animals related jobs. I make a point of deep cleaning animal housing twice annually, the dogs, ferrets and the birds housing gets a pressure washing and disinfecting in spring and autumn and if necessary preparations can be made for any young that may be born. Add the repair of a few long nets and the rigging of a few more and it is easy to see why the Long Netter is forever short on time!
There was many years I never bred any ferrets because quite simply I didn’t need to. I had access to top quality ferret kits from two good friends. However, things change, time moves on and those supplies are no longer available. I tried for a couple of years to acquire ferrets from various sources but never found them just quite the same. I do believe that when it comes to ferret, there definitely just not what they used to be and the only option is to breed your own stock, then you know exactly what you have. Last year I wrote of a small jill I owned, a jill many would consider too small for serious work, but work she does & very well. I would go as far as to say she is not only one of the best and most reliable jill ferrets I have ever owned but has also produced some quite good quality offspring too when mated to a particular Hob ferret I owned as well. Last year she had a small litter of 3 kits, one died and two males remained, two males which grew to be quite small. When people used to discuss “Micro Ferrets” it was often said the measurement was that they fitted in a pint glass and I would say these two would fit in a half pint glass! The year before was a similar small litter and there was a very small Hob I gifted to a friend and he has been very pleased with him and two small jills I kept myself have also worked reasonably well. My two recent Hobs have not this season had enough work to really say yes or no, but so far I haven’t been disappointed. I do plan to breed again this year and add to what I have and perhaps gift some others to friends. It will be a different mating however than the last two which worked well producing good quality working ferrets as against my better judgement I let a falconer borrow my Hob for a day, which he ended up loosing completely (A lesson learned) and this really disappointed me as he was a fantastic ferret and more than likely will come to a sad end.
From Countryside Alliance Ireland
Countryside Alliance Ireland was informed during a recent meeting with PSNI Firearms and Explosives Branch (FEB) that the PSNI’s online firearms application system will be offline for two weeks to allow for essential work. The shutdown is to facilitate the installation of a new internal Firearms Management System, which is due to go live on 7 March, but for this to happen seamlessly, it will be necessary for FEB to perform a full shutdown of their current system. This shutdown takes place from 21 February until 6 March inclusive, and during this time it will not be possible to submit initial Firearm Certificate (FAC) applications, or for FAC holders to make regrant applications or variation applications. Additionally, there will be no facility to cancel an FAC. We have expressed our concerns that the 6 March date may, for whatever reason, need to be extended, but we have been assured that thorough testing of the new system will take place during the second week of the shutdown and FEB do not foresee this date being extended. We also expressed our view that this downtime should be a one-off, and that we do not wish to see further downtime in the future. During our discussions with FEB, we have encouraged them to make FAC holders aware with as much notice as possible, that the shutdown is taking place, to allow those whose FACs are due to expire over the shutdown period, the opportunity to make their application in time. We would encourage members who may find themselves in this position to ensure that their regrant application has been submitted before 21 February. FEB have advised that dealers should continue to trade as normal during this time. Further to suggestions made to FEB during our engagement with them on the matter, dealers will be able to carry out one on / one off transactions, with certain conditions that dealers have been made aware of in advance. If members find themselves disadvantaged during the period of the shutdown, please contact us, in order that we might provide some assistance.
A Good result!
This morning, before I sat down to write this I had loaded two of my Teckels into the pickup and set off to check a few spots here and there. The weather has been cold lately and I hoped that the area we were going to where a farmer had been having a lot of trouble with foxes recently and had asked that I run the Teckels through a few spots on his land to see if we might flush it to the gun. After some searching we had no success, and I was feeling a little disappointed at having no result for the farmer. In recent weeks he has lost ducks, chickens, a pet rabbit and was worried about his lambs which he had been keeping an eye on. On our way back to the truck Cider stumbled upon an earth and wasted no time in slipping in like a ferret. A few more minutes and after a little baying, a fox exited the far side of the bank and fell to waiting gun while Cider followed, but paid little heed to what had just happened, and returned to me and sat down. It was nice to get a quick and clean result & on inspecting the earth on the far side we found a lot of feathers, bones and other “remnants” of his activities over the previous week.
Until Next time…Good hunting