With the ducks come teal and widgeon and moorhen, till the swampy
meadow resounds with their strange cries. When ponds and lakes are
frozen hard is the best time for sport in these irrigated fields. All
day long the ducks will stand or waddle to and fro on the ice in the
centre of the lake or mere, far out of reach and ready to rise at the
slightest alarm. But at night they seek the meadow where the water,
running swiftly in the carriers, never entirely freezes, and where, if
the shallow spots become ice, the rising current flows over it and
floods another place.
There is, moreover, never any difficulty in getting the game when hit,
because the water, except in the main carriers, which you can leap
across, hardly rises to the ankle, and ordinary water-tight boots will
enable you to wade wherever necessary. This is a great advantage with
wild fowl, which are sometimes shot and lost in deep ooze and strong
currents and eddies, and on thin ice where men cannot go and even good
dogs are puzzled.
CHAPTER XI
FERRETING: A RABBIT-HUNTER
The ferreting season commences when the frosts have caused the leaves to
drop, and the rabbits grow fat from feeding on bark. Early one December
morning, Orion and I started, with our man Little John, to ferret a
double-mound for our old friend Farmer 'Willum' at Redcote.
Little John was a labourer--one of those frequently working at odd times
for Luke, the Rabbit-Contractor.
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