Foxglove February 11 2009

The sun came out to pretend warmth and the icy wind tested our tweeds, but the rabbits were in the mood to bolt, and the ferrets worked them well. Without the dog, we would have missed many, for the nets only held for a heartbeat, not being pegged, but it was long enough for an animal with her experience. After half the day, though, we had all had enough, even the ferrets, our strength sapped by the cold.

The prolonged rain that followed had the rabbits out of their underground homes, or else drowned if they stayed. We could lamp, though the going was deep. It was hard walking for us, and far harder running for the dog, and we did not want to give her so much work.

Driving on the land was out of the question, and so, therefore, was night shooting, if we wanted to make the numbers worthwhile. Walking with the shotgun by day was fairly productive, especially with a dog to do the finding, flushing and retrieving. The pigeon shooters were hardy in their hides, and getting good results despite the chill.

Then snow, that made much of our everyday work harder, but once that was done, what an interesting read the ground was. The wildlife gave away its secrets in the prints it left behind, fascinating telling for the human hunter. Scent is very good on snow, and the dogs, for whom footprints were an irrelevance, powered through the white and told me the stories of the night's travels.

Here were more rabbits than I had realised, and here the fox had checked every trap set by me. A single roe had moved through here, and I had not known there was one about until now. Plenty of pheasant prints were a good sign, and maybe we would have a wild nest. Not if the fox saw it first, though.

The melting of the snow brought us back full circle to the frosted mud, but my knowledge was much increased by now, thanks to the messages left in the snow. In time, the rabbits would move back into their buries, and we could ferret again. I saw a lone egret standing in the crop that the pigeons were enjoying once more after its concealment under the snow. It flew towards me, which I had not expected, landed and let me see its beauty close to, then took off again and flew back to the middle of the field. Head for the river, and you will find more like you, I told it.

Back at the vehicle, a pair of cock blackbirds was fighting bitterly. It's too early for that, I thought, and then realised we were well into February, and it was not too early at all. The birds were pairing up, and I was no longer hearing the hoarse yap of bachelor foxes at night. That was a reminder: I should go and check the earth in the small wood and see if anybody was using it. Setting my boots to uphill, I left the vehicle again, the dog steady at my heels.

* Foxglove has now published a book entitled, appropriately, Foxglove's FIELD OF VIEW.It is full of anecdotes from previously published columns and delightfully illustrated with colour, black and white photography.

Copies of FIELD OF VIEW can be bought by mail from Kingswood Press. Please send a cheque for 26 for each book ( 22 for the book and 4 for postage and packing), payable to Kingswood Press to Kingswood Press, Fen Farm Cottage, Fen Lane, New Bolingbroke, Boston, Lincolnshire PE22 7JQ, ref WSG01