Some time ago I was invited to a farm in North Yorkshire with my small pack of terriers, Ellie, Dottie, Bear, Billy & Bob, two of which were pups who, at about 5 months old, were about to experience their first proper ratting trip.  As is usual on a hunting morning, the terriers could sense something different, they could tell that it wasn’t going to be an ordinary day and on seeing the hunting gear being put together began to get very excited.  After packing up the car we set off down the motorway.

I had been invited by Mark who has some excellent ratting permission in the North Yorkshire area, together with Steve, my husband, Mike, Mash, Daz, Andy & Big John.  These lads had travelled from as far as Cheshire, South Yorkshire & Durham to join Mark and his two terriers, Tess and Bracken, on this particular day.  In all we had 15 terriers between us, from all different parts of the country, most of whom had never met nor hunted together before.

It was a fairly large farm that we were visiting and some of the land is also part of a pheasant shoot.   Like many hunters, Mark keeps a vermin diary and has kept an accurate record of the amount of rats he has taken on this particular farm over the 15 months he’s had permission - an incredible one thousand three hundred and eleven rats!!  He tells me that now the numbers of rats on the farm have been brought down to a more manageable level, much to the delight of the farmer.

As you can imagine, expectations for the day were high; the plan was to clear out some release pens before the poults were put in for the forthcoming year. 

The day started off fairly slowly, we made our way to the release pens, with the terriers leading the way; what a wonderful sight a pack of terriers out hunting together is!  We had been asked to hunt two release pens, the dogs started marking in the first of these, only to hunt out and catch two rabbits; no rats were to be found at all!  *Mark said that he was a little embarrassed, having invited so many friends to what he had thought was going to be a great bit of sport for the day.  That said, none of us were in the slightest bit bothered by the apparent lack of rats, just being there with the dogs, amongst other like-minded people having a great laugh was quite enough.

The second pen began to look more promising, the dogs were marking well and with a little help from some of the lads digging, some more enthusiastically than others I might add, six rats were caught and killed.  One of Mash’s terriers marked a tree, actually climbing up it, which is something I hadn’t seen before!  This was one of the few lucky rats to escape as we just couldn’t reach it, though this little terrier had other ideas and was determined to give it a try!  

The farmer had decided to move some bales, in an area where he’d seen quite a few rats and asked if we could meet up at the barn at mid-day; this gave us just enough time for a quick brew and a bite to eat.  Once the farmer started the tractor up and the bales, which were six high and nine deep, started to move, the dogs really started to get fired up, diving underneath each bale as the tractor retreated and the bales were removed, one by one. 

At first they were to be disappointed, for each time a bale was removed not a single rat emerged.  It took a while before the first rats began to surface, they seemed to be hidden right at the back, but very soon they started to scuttle out here and there.  It was then that a couple of the lads noticed that a few rats were moving at the back of the bales and had started to escape down a wall, going underneath the bales into the concrete floor. Mike and Daz dashed round the back to try and cover up any escape holes that may have been missed whilst everyone else kept a watch on the dogs, working so closely with the tractor that was moving backwards & forwards towards the bales.

All except the youngest pups were used to working with tractors and were very comfortable with them, in fact rather excited at the prospect of working so closely with the farm machinery; it was very obvious they’d done it before and knew what sport was to come.  Getting nearer to the back of the bales the rats at last started to move, dropping down on top of Mike & Daz, who were still behind the bales, watching for escapees, very brave men I have to say, either that or just a tad mad! I know I wouldn’t have very much liked rats dropping on my head and crawling on my shoulders!! 

Finally, the last remaining bales were removed, with rats pouring out from underneath, closely followed by terriers moving frantically in all directions, fast and furious, it was action at its best!! I’ve seen nothing quite like it before, there were rats, dogs & lads running all over the place trying to keep the rats enclosed without means of escape, whilst the terriers grabbed & killed them and a couple of bemused farmers wondering what on earth was going on – “who were these mad men who took such great delight in rodents?!”   

Once the bales had been completely removed, the pace slowed down a little, and the dogs started to mark the concrete floor which was disintegrating with rat runs.  Daz, Steve & Mike got in amongst this and started to dig removing the debris to find even more rats lurking in the tubes.   Now Daz can only be described as a one-off, and really has to be seen to be believed.  He takes great delight in catching rats, alive, yes alive!   On this occasion he had a willing new accomplice, giving Mash a lesson in the art of live rat-catching, so we had two completely mad rat hunting men, wandering round with live rats in our midst.  As fast as he was catching them the waiting dogs were grabbing them off him, it was very difficult to tell who was the keenest - Daz or the dogs!  

By the time the last remaining rats were dug up we had accounted for a total of 87 rats in the space of roughly 45 minutes, not bad going I think you’ll agree!

The farmer was pleased, he and his son had watched all the goings on with looks of disbelief on their faces, taking a great interest in the dogs and asking me what the different breeds were.  We’d all had a fantastic day and the terriers were satisfied, even the youngest of the pups having made a kill, and, apart from the odd scuffle here and there, they’d behaved impeccably, especially considering most had never hunted together before.

A big thank you to Mark, and indeed to all the lads who were there for such a fantastic day, it wouldn’t have been quite the same without them.  I’m really looking forward to the next time!

Katie Archer.