On burrowed time: Hunting with Ireland's last rabbit catcher

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On burrowed time: Hunting with Ireland's last rabbit catcher

Steven McGonigal prefers ferrets, dogs, spades and nets instead of modern guns and poison

Published: August 21, 2020 10:34 AFP and Compiled by Christian Borbon, Senior Web Editor

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Copy of 495554-01-02-1597989349757 — Carndonagh, Ireland: Steven McGonigal crosses a pockmarked field in the north of Ireland with a box of unruly ferrets while his dog, Fudge, sniffs out rabbit warrens. Image Credit: AFP

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Copy of 495561-01-02-1597989364293 — As the lurcher does his work, McGonigal covers the openings with nets before releasing a single ferret down the hole to flush out the occupants inside. Image Credit: AFP

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Copy of 495558-01-02-1597989344683 — For five minutes, the ferret races around the underground tunnels, poking its head out of dotted holes like a whack-a-mole. McGonigal looks on in twitchy anticipation. Image Credit: AFP

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Copy of 495564-01-02-1597989356715 — Then, in a split-second blur of grey fur, a rabbit emerges tangled in a net. McGonigal sprints over, grasps it by the legs and neck and dispatches it with a deft tug. Image Credit: AFP

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Copy of 495566-01-02-1597989369087 — "It's the traditional way," the 37-year-old former accountant told AFP in a field outside Carndonagh at the northern edge of Ireland. "We don't damage the ground, we're not laying poisons, we give the rabbits a quick and clean death - and that's most important." Image Credit: AFP

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Copy of 495552-01-02-1597989352106 — Unique appeal: McGonigal is said to be Ireland's last traditional rabbit catcher, preferring ferrets, dogs, spades and nets instead of modern guns and poison. Image Credit: AFP

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Copy of 495560-01-02-1597989341853 — Rabbits - fluffy, cute and doe-eyed to many, and kept as household pets - are considered pests in the countryside. They are greedy consumers of vegetation, their warrens compromise buildings, and their breeding rate can quickly inflate numbers. Image Credit: AFP

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Copy of 495556-01-02-1597989347272 — As well as gardeners and farmers, McGonigal has built up a client list for his services including schools, golf courses and oil refineries. Becoming the last rabbit catcher in Ireland's emerald outdoors is a far cry from his former accounting job. Image Credit: AFP

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Copy of 495555-01-02-1597989374044 — "I was getting to where I was looking forward to going out, I was starting to dread going back in," he said of his previous number-crunching profession. Image Credit: AFP

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Copy of 495557-01-02-1597989371313 — After a childhood spent owning ferrets, fishing and shooting, taking the career leap to full-time rabbit catcher in 2013 was a natural step, he said. Image Credit: AFP

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Copy of 495553-01-02-1597989376450 — But he admitted that the sometimes grisly demands of killing rabbits by hand is not for everyone. "It doesn't appeal to a lot of people," he conceded Image Credit: AFP

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Copy of 495562-01-02-1597989361695 — Environmental impact: The practice of rabbit catching with ferrets dates back centuries. An illustration in the 14th-century manuscript, the Taymouth Hours, depicts a lady sending a dog or a ferret down a warren to drive a rabbit out into a net. Image Credit: AFP

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Copy of 495565-01-02-1597989354410 — McGonigal believes that while the ancient hands-on method may be distasteful to some, it remains the best way to cull numbers. "The problem is nowadays... people are building houses further and further and further, and they're encroaching into the countryside every day," he said. Image Credit: AFP

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Copy of 495567-01-02-1597989366705 — As human and animal kingdoms become increasingly intertwined, less refined methods of hunting have become popular - and damaging. Lead shot from guns can taint the soil and poisons can be indiscriminate, leaving animal corpses underground with no indication of how many have been killed. Image Credit: AFP

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Copy of 495563-01-02-1597989359228 — McGonigal's technique leaves no trace and allows him to precisely measure the number of rabbits he has removed from the landscape, which he believes keeps the ecosystem and food chain better calibrated. "Nobody loves rabbits more than me," he said. "But we have to keep the balance - the countryside is always about the balance." Image Credit: AFP

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