What’s the difference between a purse net and a long net?

Ferrets
EDWARD COOK says: A purse net is simply a net that covers a rabbit hole and is used with ferrets.

The ferrets bolt the rabbits from a burrow and the rabbit becomes entangled as the net ‘purses’ via a draw cord connected to a peg pushed into the ground.

A long net has many more uses as it is a long net that can be used with ferrets and dogs. It can be driven into from burrows or dense cover and it can also be used at night to catch rabbits as they return home from their feeding area.

In my experience a long net works best if it’s no more than 50 yards long when set – any longer than that and it can become very cumbersome to carry and work with.

A 50 yard long net should consist of 120 yards of netting which is run along two lines (head and foot).

The long net is run out from a set of anchor pins. All nets can be bought from various sources but I would recommend hemp nets with cotton braid lines because they hang properly and are less prone to tangle.

Anyone interested in long netting would be wise to buy Harold Wyman’s book The Art of Long Netting as it’s full of useful advice you will find invaluable.