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Polecat or ferret? (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Richard
- Start date
StuartReeves
Local rarity
My Fieldguide notes that some Ferrets are probably indistinguishable from Polecat on external features. If I remember correctly a number of precise measurements of the skull are required to distinguish between the two species. Unfortunately it does not seem to be possible to identify your roadkill on the basis of these photos.
Stuart
Stuart
jpoyner
Well-known member
Agree with the below posts, it does look pretty good for Polecat. I heard from a fairly reliable source that there are indeed quite a few genuine Polecat populations in the UK. Some appear to have possibly come from a covert and mysterious "re-introduction" programme. I don't know any more than this, but as I said, the source of this information was pretty reliable.
Interestingly too, I don't think that it is the only species which may be being released.......!!!!!!!
JP
Interestingly too, I don't think that it is the only species which may be being released.......!!!!!!!
JP
Mickymouse
Ubuntu Linux user
![roadkill[1].JPG](/data/attachments/7/7274-a8a133a7ad2f45c4faf2045adb19cf16.jpg)
Larry Lade
Moderator
I suppose if it were not over three days old, it would taste OK if cooked long enough! Just joking! Sorry, if this is in "bad taste".Richard said:Thank you all very much for feedback. I wish I could find someone with room in their freezer!!
Richard
David Bryant
Registered User
Interestingly too, I don't think that it is the only species which may be being released.......!!!!!!!
Intriguing! What are these 'other mammals'? I've heard about wolves, wild boar and beavers being covertly released here and there....... And I've seen TWO 'pumas', most recently one on the central reservation of the M3!
Intriguing! What are these 'other mammals'? I've heard about wolves, wild boar and beavers being covertly released here and there....... And I've seen TWO 'pumas', most recently one on the central reservation of the M3!
jpoyner
Well-known member
David Bryant said:
Do you have any more info on the Wolves particularly? Lynx maybe??? One was hit by a car in Morayshire last year. Its all just hearsay but nothing would surprise me. Particularly as in Scotland at least, SNH seem to be unwilling to go forward in any type of mammal reintroduction schemes unlike our European neighbours, despite being obliged under EU law to at least carry out feasability studies!
JP
Last edited:
Andrew Rowlands
Well-known member
jpoyner said:
I read that Polecats had spread to the Forest of Dean, from their stronghold in Mid Wales, by about 1980, maybe earlier. Given that we are now another twenty-odd years down the line, it seems quite feasible that this is just an extension of the 'natural' recovery (undoubtedly helped a little by their escaped cousins occasionally).
In 'my' corner of South-east Wales, I have seen several Polecats each year for the last ten years or so, probably on a par with the number of sightings of Brown Hare (both are seen more frequently than Fox, Badger, Mink, Stoat or Weasel).
Andy.
Birdspotter
Well-known member
could have sworn I saw a Polecat walking along the road with a Rabbit in its mouth north of Inverness one night.
Way out of range though and NO it wasnt a Pine martin
Way out of range though and NO it wasnt a Pine martin
Vectis Birder
Itchy feet
Coming into this thread late, the unfortunate creature looks like a Polecat to me.
DJ Sideboard
Well-known member
I read some years back (10?) that Polecats had made it east to Oxfordshire and the Chilterns. Presumably the spread continues. I saw a Polecat or Polecat like Ferret at close range near Wareham in Dorset in the summer of 1999. As Andy says, they are rather common in SE Wales, when I stayed near Usk in the summer of 2000 they were one of the commonest mammal corpses on my local country lanes.
I don't think there is any way of telling a polecat like ferret from the real thing for certain and (much like Wildcat) any sightings a long way from known populations or in unlikely habitats should be treated with suspiscion.
I don't think there is any way of telling a polecat like ferret from the real thing for certain and (much like Wildcat) any sightings a long way from known populations or in unlikely habitats should be treated with suspiscion.
alan_rymer
Well-known member
Any idea how you tell a Mink from Polecat/Ferret.DJ Sideboard said:
How do you rule out a Mink?.
marek_walford
Well-known member
alan_rymer said:
Mink are all dark.
I've found two dead Polecats (road casualties) in Berkshire in the last twelve months.
marek_walford
Well-known member
DJ Sideboard said:
I believe real Polecats have a longer head than ferrets. It's difficult (i.e. you need a confiding/dead animal and a ruler) but they can be told apart! The experts usually want a corpse to confirm identification.
