Polecat

The polecat and European polecat Mustela putorius is a small carnivore of the weasel family, distributed throughout much of Europe, Northern Africa and Western Asia. The polecat was domesticated in ancient times in order to hunt rabbits for humans resulting in the ferret Mustela putorius.

This animal has a flexible elongated body and short legs enabling it to move quickly through the forest floor and break through into the burrows of rodents and rabbits, on which it feeds.

The head is small, wide and flat, with tiny upright rounded ears. The head and body length is about 30 to 50 centimetres, while the bushy tail is about 10 to 19cm. While males may slightly exceed a kilo in weight, the females reach only between 650 and 850 grams. They have 8 mammary glands with which they suckle their young during lactation.

Fur color varies from grey, brown and yellow on the back, with black on the legs and the belly. A pair of white bands around the eyes cut a distinctive mask around the dark background. They are also having a white mouth and ears.

The animals have a total of 34 teeth and live between 7 to 8 years.

Habitat
The polecat can live almost anywhere which will provide a hiding place from which to stalk their prey, including forest, scrub areas, grasslands, rocky terrain and riverbanks. The territory claimed by each animal can reach up to 2 square miles.

The distribution of this animal in the Iberian Peninsula occupies the greater part of it, although in recent years its habitat is reduced due to densification and forest fires. The animal is protected largely in many parts of Europe.

Their main enemies are owls, large snakes such as the Montpellier snake and large carnivores like foxes and wolves.

Identification in nature
Traces of the polecat as although they are quite difficult to see by the amateur naturalist, given its ability to hide in the bushes and undergrowth, they are easily identified by several indications of its presence, such as footprints, sounds and excrement.

The tracks are similar to those of the sable, but smaller. They consist of 4 or 5 fingers to the printing of non-retractable well developed claws.
The footprints of the hind legs are larger than those of the forelegs, and occasionally are accompanied by the mark left by the tail in the mud or snow.

The most characteristic sound of this species is a “that, that, that! “sound. The other sounds like Chilla! And is made when they are frightened or angry, and when the female needs to alert their young from danger. The vocabulary also includes snorts and grunts for other events.

The droppings measure 6 to 8 cm long, but are only 9mm thick. Color varies according to what the rat has eaten, but is usually black. Certain points are deposited into their territory, usually near their burrows, and they sometimes can see several bodies of their victims, such as feathers, hair, shells and bits of bone.

Food
In addition to small mammal’s rats, mice, rabbits, hares, moles, shrews, the polecat may also capture birds, fish, amphibians, reptiles and crayfish and sometimes supplementing their diet with insects and their larvae, as well as seeds and berries.

They also consume eggs, but they do not break the shell of they only punch a small hold in the egg and drink the inside from the hole. There low profile on the ground and their body versatility to hunt anywhere, even underwater and their ability to easily locate their prey through their acute hearing, eyesight and especially smell make them formidable hunters.

Reproduction
The animals are solitary animals and only live with other members of their species during the breeding season which is between February and April.
The males leave their nocturnal habits become aggressive and can easily be seen screaming and fighting in the day.

When one is victorious they approach the female and nibble the back of the neck, proceeding to copulate while making characteristic noises. After 6 weeks of gestation the female gives birth to from 3 to 12 pups that are born almost totally naked and helpless in their den.

The den is usually an enlarged rabbit hole or a hole in the base of a tree. What little hair they have is completely grey and does not begin to differentiate until 3 weeks of age. After the fourth week they open their eyes and stop nursing before the seventh week.

After being trained in the hunt by their mother, the young rodents becomes independent in two to three months, but sometimes stays for anything up to nine months and reaching breeding maturity in anything up to two years.