Foxglove

This morning, my colleague was using the slasher to clear last year's nettle and bramble growth from a long hedgerow rabbit-warren, which we were going to shoot over before this year's cover overwhelmed it again.

Letting the weight of the implement do the work, he made a figure timeless and rural, swinging in long regular sweeps through the brash. I was completing the more modern task of checking transmitter collars and receiver boxes prior to collaring-up the ferrets, which job is far easier with two of us.

Today he would be shooting over the buries and I would be Ferretmeister. No dog today, for she was getting over a minor sprain sustained a few days previously while chasing a rabbit. This meant we could tackle those buries which were not suitable for nets and dog.

Having done sufficient clearing, we moved across to the woods, which were dotted with small buries covered in bracken and fallen branches. They would be a nightmare to net, and a danger to a dog, but ideal for shooting over. Moreover, there were no nettles in here, which was pleasanter for the ferrets, who don't like nettle stings any more than we do.

For full feature see West Sussex Gazette April 8