Unknown Mustelidae

[Lincs Yellowbelly]

Saw a mammal this evening i'm not what it was. It was a type of Mustelidae but unless its a Stoat or Weasel i'm no good at telling them apart.

Only saw it walking away from me for a few seconds, it was a couple of foot or so long, and walked quite slowly with a very arched back. It was dark but with a light white coloured back.

Any clues?

[RobinP]

Far too big for Stoat or Weasel, perhaps Mink?

[Tracey.A]

Hi, well it's not a Stoat or a Weasel (too small)

Tracey

[mh68]

Closest match I could find online was a Polecat-Ferret. One of the images I found matched your description pretty well.I`ll pm you the link to the pic i`m talking about...

Mark H

[Tracey.A]

Perhaps a Polecat? Google Polecat and let me know.

Tracey

[Lincs Yellowbelly]

I'm thinking it was possible a Mink or a ferret. I'm not sure if Mink can vary in colour as they are usually Black? I don't think we get Polecats this far East in England?

[mh68]

Originally Posted by Lincs Yellowbelly

I'm thinking it was possible a Mink or a ferret. I'm not sure if Mink can vary in colour as they are usually Black? I don't think we get Polecats this far East in England?

I`ve seen Mink with pale-ish brown patches on them but nothing near as pale as your description. Maybe it was just an escapee Ferret? Was the pic not close that i pm`d you?

Mark H

[Lincs Yellowbelly]

Looking at other pics on the net would go for a Feral Ferret. They look most like what I saw.

[mh68]

Well there seem to be a lot of colour variations in Ferrets so thats probably the most likely culprit

Mark H

[Rob_D]

Originally Posted by Lincs Yellowbelly

I don't think we get Polecats this far East in England?

They've spread East across England in a couple of decades, so perhaps it would not be that unlikely. There was at least one pure Polecat verified in Lincolnshire the 2004-2006 survey , but several more were hybrid Polecat-Ferrets. It can be hard to tell the difference. In any case, perhaps the white underfur gave you the appearance of patches? If you saw the face, I'd expect you'd notice the bandit mask.

What do you think?

Some pictures of Polecats from the cheshire wildlife trust
Cheshire Wildlife Trust, Polecat Project

and one roadkill Polecat, or possibly hybrid from Hertfordshire this year that I found.

[Lincs Yellowbelly]

Its a possibilty, but really difficult to say from the brief view i had of it, just remember the lighter colour on the back and the arched back when it walked