Field guide to the most commonly encountered mammals and birds

Here, we provide some basic information regarding commonly observed species (plus some others about which we have had queries).  

Feel free to contact us by email if you have any questions regarding species you have encountered on the site.

For more information about mammals, we recommend the Mammal Society's species hub, here. For birds, excellent resources are available from the RSPB (here) and the BTO (here).

 

Show Common Species Show All Species

Polecat or Polecat/Ferret Hybrid

Scientific name: Mustela putorius

Family: Mustelidae

Appearance:  The Polecat is a long-bodied, slim mustelid with dark guard hairs over yellowish under fur. The legs are dark and the tail short. It has a pale muzzle and ear tips and a wide, dark band across its face making it look like a ‘bandit’. The domesticated form of the Polecat is the Ferret which occur in a range of colours, but often look very similar to wild Polecats. Additionally, there are many Polecat/Ferret hybrids now at large making identification difficult.

Size: Head and body 29-46 cm; tail 12-19 cm

Natural history: The Polecat was once extremely common and widespread but, hunting for fur and persecution to protect poultry and game reduced the population almost to extinction at the beginning of the 20th century. They are now returning to their former range.

Polecats are nocturnal and crepuscular and active throughout the year, they eat a wide variety of food stuffs including rodents, rabbits, birds and invertebrates. They also feed on carrion. Polecats, like most mustelids, can kill prey much larger than themselves including geese. They sometimes excavate a den but more often use a pre-existing feature such as a crevice in rocks or a rabbit burrow. Each den is occupied by one animal (or a female and kits) but they may have several dens throughout their home range which they will use when in the vicinity. Their territories vary in size depending on habitat and availability of food, territories of radio tracked animals have been measured and ranged from 16 to 500 hectares.

Breeding is seasonal with females giving birth to 3-7 kits between May and June. The kits are born blind and hairless, they are weaned at around 4 weeks and stay with their mother for 2-3 months. Male polecats play no part in rearing of the young. 

 (C) Dale Pickles (shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 license)

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