Polecat

Polecat, the name itself intrigues you. Everybody has at some time heard the expression; "you're nothing but a polecat." It is usually used in an insulting overtone. Yet when you look at the information provided here on the actual animal, I don't see how they got the expression.

Please meet a member of the mustelidae family, the Polecat. This name usually refers to the Old World polecat, Mustela putorius. This carnivorous mammal can usually be found in Northern Eurasia and North Africa. The marbled polecat, steppe polecat, and zorilla are related animals from Africa and Western Asia. The wild relative in North America is the ferret. Also within this loose knit group are domesticated polecats developed for hunting, they too are referred to as ferrets.

Colors range from brown to black, with an under fur of pale yellow. Polecats have a raccoon-like dark mask around their eyes, surrounded by a white face accented by white-tipped ears. The belly, feet, and tail are nearly black. They are lean and slender in appearance with short legs and a "bounding" gait that is faster and more efficient than it appears. The polecat can grow as large as 26 inches including the tail. It of course, like its relatives, has the anal gland with which it marks its territory. When the polecat is excited or threatened it releases some of the contents of these glands.

These carnivores are solitary animals usually hunting at night. Their dens can be found in crevices and hollow logs. Their usual meal fare consists of small mammals, fish, and frogs. Due to a "key-lock" formation of their jaw polecats and ferrets can be lifted and suspended by whatever they are gripping with their teeth. This also gives them that amazing grip during fights, hunting, and play.

Since their sense of vision is not very acute they rely mainly on their sense of smell to track and kill prey. Polecats prefer to live along bodies of fresh water, in wetlands, on the edge of forests, or in grasslands with islands of scrub trees.

The Zorilla, Ictonyx striatus is found in the dry regions of Africa. It is also known by the names of striped weasel and striped polecat. It looks similar to the North American skunk, but is related to the true polecat of Eurasia.

Zorilla's have thick fur, with white and black markings, and a bushy tail. It uses its anal gland defense against predators; thus other animals usually avoid it. This predator hunts at night (nocturnal) feeding on small reptiles and rodents.

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