Catching Rabbits With A Ferret --- Childhood Memories (5)

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My grandfather always had a ferret. It wasn't a pet, though. It was a working animal. It had to chase wild rabbits. It was kept in a cage in a shed in the yard where also house rabbits were kept. Children were strictly forbidden to touch it because it would bite. All the ferrets my grandfather had, were called Oki (pronounced Okee). No idea why. They didn't bother what they were called and didn't react to any name. House rabbits and wild rabbits? Let me explain. This was in the GDR (German Democratic Republic) in the years after the end of WW2. Life was frugal, there wasn't much one could buy in the shops. People with allotments and an edible animal or two in a shed behind the house were well off. Those without such riches had to exchange whatever they possessed or could offer as a service for something to eat. Up to the end of the GDR this parallel economy existed. The house rabbits were fat animals fed up to be slaughtered. My grandfather didn't catch wild rabbits because we wanted to eat rabbit meat all the time. He sold them or exchanged them for whatever we needed. He was called by owners of allotments whose gardens were dug up by families of rabbits and who wanted to get rid of them. He also found them in churchyards. German graves are a bit like flower beds. The soil isn't firm and ideal for rabbits to dig burrows. How did he go about it? We have to start with my mother who was good at handiwork and needlecraft and who could knot nets out of string with the help of a small metal thingy. I've never seen this anywhere again. Fishermen may know it. My grandfather had to find all openings of a burrow. He fastened nets over them with the help of sticks and stones. The ferret was waiting in a small wooden box with holes in the sides so that it could breathe. It had a collar round its neck with a tiny tin bell. My grandfather took it out, lifted one net and let Oki run into the burrow. A ferret is a small animal, a rabbit, especially a male one, is big in comparison. A ferret can't catch a rabbit but it can chase it. A rabbit doesn't want to be bitten in its behind by sharp ferret teeth and tries to escape. It runs to an exit of the burrow and gets entangled in the net. Thanks to the bell my grandfather could hear where the rabbit was and out of which hole it would emerge. He positioned himself there with a club and hit it on its head which killed it at once. He grabbed Oki, put it back into its box and went home. It's all so long ago but I remember the slaughtering, too. I don't know how I'd react if I saw it today. I don't even eat meat any more. Then I watched it without repulsion. The rabbit was hung head down at the door of a shed. The hide was cut open at the hind legs and then pulled down as if it were a pullover. At least it looked like it. Of course, the hide had to be cut off the flesh in the process. The hide and the fur were cleaned and occasionally turned into a garment. My grandfather had a vest and looked like an American trapper. Of course, we didn't know this then because we'd never heard of American trappers. When I was older I made myself a pair of moccasins out of rabbit fur. Have you ever eaten rabbit meat, tame or wild? ----- If you're interested in more childhood memories, click on the green bar 'MALUS CHILDHOOD MEMORIES' above the title.