Polecat ?

[Loxley]

Thankyou for all the interest, I can tell you that there is a small lake not more than 1/4 mile from where I saw this creature,and 300 yards from my garden,the lake is populated by coots,ducks, moorhens and Canada geese.The pair of ducks this year had 13 ducklings which they proudly showed off on late afternoon strolls this summer.Every single one of those ducklings was killed, not all at once,we saw 13 then 10, then 8 then 4 and the female parent was seen for 3 days with the last remaining duckling,obviously injured and limping badly ,following it around the field watching its every move.This duckling then also ceased to be. We do have Buzzards living here but I have never seen them over the lake threatening the water birds. I really dont know what to think re this sighting, Polecat, Marten or indeed Mink all are possibilities , It wasnt a lost ferret, I have seen many Ferrets but not this big and not this colour. We have a Badger set not 100 yards from my house whose occupants we see on warm evenings, so similar shy creatures could and probably are here,what they are is at the moment to be discovered.

[Loxley]

Originally Posted by Farplace

I would like to think that it was a pine marten.... but have you thought about mink? They are mainly black, but you can get them in "red" shades. See this as an example:

Cracking Photo !! yes, it could have been , but was more red and a bit bigger