On cloud nine with Nimbus

Ferrets don’t judge so when Tabitha joins the party Simon Whitehead is happy to take a back seat and watch her at work with her little dog

- Simon Whitehead

Every now and then, you get a day you will never forget. Sometimes it is because you bagged lots of rabbits, others simply the enjoyment of being with like-minded souls. But this day’s ferreting started like no other.

I was back in deepest Suffolk and about to ferret an equestrian centre with Tabitha and her lurcher, Nimbus. First, I had to empty my drop boxes and, as I walked up, I heard the lids clank. This upped my heart rate with visions of a dozen rabbits or more. But what I discovered left me speechless. The first had a polecat, asleep, under some live rabbits. If that were not strange enough, the next was even more bizarre. I opened it to find a fully grown and extremely healthy dog fox curled up next to the remains of his supper. Surely my day ferreting couldn’t continue in this peculiar vein?

In a male-dominated facet of field sports, Tabs is as capable as any of the men whom I have taken out ferreting. In fact, she puts a lot to shame. Her no-nonsense approach to rabbiting whatever the weather ensures that, however demanding the conditions, she stays focused.

Demanding doesn’t only mean physically. Many fail mentally, especially halfway through a hard day. Tabs has an enduring mental strength that allows her to keep pushing long after many others would have given in and packed up.

When ferreting, your brain has a lot of information to digest. You are concentrating, studying the form, changing tactics if things aren’t working, changing ferrets about if they aren’t pulling their weight and, vitally, trusting and listening to what your dog is telling you. If it were as simple as many think it is, we wouldn’t have any rabbits left.