Just looking through regs and I see hunting with ferrets is not allowed in Ontario. Anyone know why that is?
Printable View
Just looking through regs and I see hunting with ferrets is not allowed in Ontario. Anyone know why that is?
Don't know why, but I do know its been that way for as long as I can remember, early 1960's
It’s because a rabbit doesn’t stand a chance ! They used to put the ferret down the rabbit holes, then wait for the rabbits to run from the holes.Quote:
Originally Posted by Cass
I can't see that being the reason. They do it in many countries. People could argue the same thing about using dogs.Quote:
Originally Posted by rick_iles
Sent from my SM-G950W using Tapatalk
Do we have a native ferret in Ontario?
Maybe to protect the native ones, or to prevent a population of escaped ones.
No idea. Just found it odd lol
Sent from my SM-G950W using Tapatalk
People do a lot of things in other countries that are illegal here! I haven’t seen a hunting dog yet that can go down a rabbit hole and chase the rabbit out !! Likely another reason is to prevent escaped ferrets from establishing a wild population.Quote:
Originally Posted by Cass
Simple Falconry was for the aristocrats ferreting was done by the poor. Guess who made the rules.
Sometimes the ferret caught the rabbit in the hole, would piss off my grandma, he would have to try to pull the ferret out by the long leash.Quote:
Originally Posted by rick_iles
Back then ferreting was a way of feeding your family and they never hurt the population, now it is rare for someone to need to hunt for sustenance, it is just not the same time now.
I used to hunt with them in Scotland when I was a kid and had lots of fun field every other weekend.Ferrets are domesticated Polecats,and Polecats are basically about the same size as a mink.Ferrets do not do well on their own in the wild just as a dog would not do well.They are basically used for cottontailsQuote:
Originally Posted by Cass
as they are the animals making holes/warren systems.
The rabbits are basically caught in purse nets placed over the holes.Some escape from the nets,some holes don,t get covered.
The great thing is that a ferreter can simply let excess rabbits go after capture to prevent over harvest.
Getting back to the initial question, I suppose they are prohibited because it might be considered unsporting or there many have been a concern about them escaping and breeding with mink,marten, or animals of similar size much like the wolf/coyote mix.
It there was a problem with rabbits (think Canmore) ferreting would be a great and cost effective solution to clearing up the rabbits.We don,t seem to have any excessive numbers of cottontails here to be worried about.
I'd think because they're a non-native species and they're concerned that if they get released they'd soon be an introduced species.
The experience in New Zealand where the English screwed up the whole island with introduced species probably made our decision a wise one.Quote:
Originally Posted by DanO
https://predatorfreenz.org/whats-the...about-ferrets/
Your point is valid but they used to be kept on a leash like you would a dog.Quote:
Originally Posted by DanO
We raise pigs, chickens, domestic turkeys, ducks and geese, we raise goats, cows, all of these things can get out and reproduce but we put lots of work into doing so. You are not letting ferrets go, you are letting them go down the hole, on a leash. It is the fact that the animals cannot get away, expectation of no sport, that this was banned.
When I was a kid, I was with an old guy that used a ferret. They called it a “bug”. There was no leash. It doesn’t make sense to use a leash that would get tangled up in roots, rocks and other stuff.Quote:
Originally Posted by Fox
This “bug” would run the rabbit out of the hole, guy would grab it, or shoot it if he missed the grab, the “bug” would climb into a crown royal bag, and get put into his pocket !!!! Sometimes it would catch the rabbit and would not come out. They would block up the holes and go back the next day. The ferret was usually there waiting to get back into that bag.
That's the way it was with us also, no leash, kept in an old wool sock in your pocket while out looking for rabbits, rail road tracks was the place to use them, we used ferrets for quite awhile, starting in the early 1960's, any ferret that escaped would never survive, and there is nothing around that it would crossbreed toQuote:
Originally Posted by rick_iles
They do use leashes on them back in GB although not everybody.Some rabbit holes are single holes with no escape routes.They also put muzzles on ferrets to prevent them killing rabbits and staying down the warren eating them.Today its high tech with GPS tracking and what not.Not unusual back in the day to have to dig the little buggers out.Quote:
Originally Posted by rick_iles
Well there is a ferret native to Canada ( AB/SK). The black footed ferret. They have 19 sites that they are trying to reintroduce them.
There is a difference between Wild and Domestic Ferrets.
3. Black-footed ferrets are wild animals while pet ferrets are domestic and unable to live in the wild. Black-footed ferrets live only on prairie dog colonies thus if you see a ferret in your neighborhood then it is a pet ferret and not a wild black-footed ferret. Pet ferrets simply do not have the skills and instincts to survive in the wild. Never release a pet ferret into the wild, rather turn them in to an appropriate shelter for ferrets. Pet ferrets do not reproduce or survive in the wild and will not develop into a feral colony.
http://www.prairiewildlife.org/top5BFF.html
The ferret (Mustela putorius furo) is the domesticated form of the European polecat, a mammal belonging to the same genus as the weasel, Mustela of the family Mustelidae.[1] They typically have brown, black, white, or mixed fur. They have an average length of 51 cm (20 in) including a 13 cm (5.1 in) tail, weigh about 1.5–4 pounds (0.7–2 kg), and have a natural lifespan of 7 to 10 years.[2] Ferrets are sexually dimorphic predators with males being substantially larger than females.
Several other Mustelids also have the word ferret in their common names, including an endangered species, the black-footed ferret.
The history of the ferret's domestication is uncertain, like that of most other domestic animals, but it is likely that ferrets have been domesticated for at least 2,500 years. They are still used for hunting rabbits in some parts of the world, but increasingly they are kept only as pets.
Being so closely related to polecats, ferrets easily hybridize with them, and this has occasionally resulted in feral colonies of polecat-ferret hybrids that have caused damage to native fauna, especially in New Zealand.[3] As a result, some parts of the world have imposed restrictions on the keeping of ferrets.