
Hounding the rats from their holes
By Scott Allan.
A FRIEND of mine down in Kent had mentioned one of his colleagues up north had some hounds and asked if I would be interested in getting out with him. Always keen to meet new people, I requested his number and after a couple of weeks we had agreed to meet for some ratting.
The morning came and I loaded up my camera stu and smoker and proceeded north. My usual journeys involve several hours driving but this, conveniently, was on my
doorstep in Lancashire.
We met up at the local pub car park and convoyed the rest of the way into a small yard littered with pheasant feeders and other debris. The muddy banks to the side of my
car were strewn with holes from one end to the other and it was very evident there were a number of rats present.
We had a brief chat and then readied the smoker. I had been expecting terriers, but my new friend had with him two Welsh Foxhounds, two English Foxhounds, three Speagles, a lurcher and a PugZhu.