I have recently over xmas studied the ideas of taking up ferreting again after many many years of being away from the rabbit warrens, heres the costs, all prices are rough and based alot on ebay because of the cheapness(quality??) of the products
ferret cage , home made, free timber, pay for iron works and netting. £30, cage very large, able to run 4 ferrets
ferrets, costs differ depending on where and who you talk to , cannock ferret rescue charges £50 per ferret to pay for it to be neutored and someone will say you can have one of mine for a £10 so make your own choice?
ferret locator, to be honest you would be very silly not to buy one, a new one with two collers and reciver is £160 , dont belive anyone that says they are only £30 on ebay, as they are lieing to you. a second hand one on ebay will easily reach £70 without a chase. some time a lot more
nets, depends what you want, long nets or purse nets, Purse nets are roughly £15 for 10 nets cheaply made, yes you can buy the twine and make them your selves, allow an hour per net for the first twenty and after that you should be able to knock one out in 30 mins easy, how many will you need, the dreaded question. start with twenty and miss a few rabbits, most netters that i used to run with could carry 100 on the first ever time on a warren, but what you do is after the days netting, you go around and fill every rabbit hole / burrow in slightly, so when the next time you come along all the old dead burrows are still sealed and only the new ones are open, that way you will only needs say 40 + nets
long nets these are used in the same way but we surround the warren rather than the holes, average prices are around a pound per metre, so we either get 25,50, 75 or 100 metre nets, best price i have seen for a long net is £89 for 100 metres plus extra for the poles,say a pound each unless you cut your own.
now after that lot which is to be fair, the most exspenses are a one of. lets talk running costs
food dry or wet cat food or propper ferret food £5+ a week
beddding , cage cleaning,etc etc £5 per week
vet bills , say i allow £100 per year ( just a guess but i am sure someone will pick me up on it)
what about a ferret carry box to go to the field and back , transport , your car or someone elses??
then after all that is paid for, you now have to start the hardest work , and thats finding someone that will allow a perfect stranger on to his land to catch rabbits, i dont know about you but my old fashioned way of doing that involved bottles of scotch being delivered to certian farmers to aplease them, and many a time i have HAD TO go to the pub to buy a farmers son/lad/mate/employee a beer or two or twenty
yes an air rifle is cheaper to set up and to buy , i have several , at these costs£28, £120, £250, all second hand and serviced from the gunsmith i brought them from,
now after all of that , am I anti ferret Hurplegrappers, absolutly not , I love ferrets and using them, always have done always will do , as for catching rabbits the nets i will start to make when i can spare the money from my giro and the cage will get built when i can source a decent and clean supply of pallets rather than buying a propper ferret cage
now that i have finished , if you do keep ferrets and can improve or better my prices please do as they are only a starting point , you never know there might evam be someone local that will sell you a couple of ferrets
