mystery creature

[Lou-D]

Going by the size and colouring, this definitely sounds like a ferret to me. As mentioned already, weasels are tiny measuring about 17-25cm, and the stoat slightly bigger at about 16-31cm. I keep ferrets as pets (and also have a great interest in British mustelids) and the measurement Garden Carpet gave is about right for them. It will probably be an escapee which is common about this time of year (though ferrets being ferrets seem to have one aim in life - to escape and explore their surroundings anytime!) as both sexes of ferret come into season around this time, if not slightly earlier, and tend to escape to find mates! This is one good example of why it's a good idea to neuter ferrets, amongst many other reasons.

Dan Salter - European polecat (Mustela putorius) populations are still mainly concentrated around Wales but are slowly spreading into central southern England and the west coast (as discovered by a Vincent Wildlife Trust survey http://www.vwt.org.uk/publications/S...July_2006.pdf), with small populations found in other areas, but they can often be confused with feral ferret populations. They can also be confused with hybrids - a cross between a domestic ferret and the european polecat. Some irresponsible peeps will breed these to either get a supposedly better working ferret or to get the darker coloured ferret which some of the ferret showing fraternity seem to like. The only real way to tell is by testing the genetic make up in some cases.

Sorry to rabbit on but hope the above info helps someone somewhere.

[Dan Salter]

Thanks for clearingthat up lou.

So either way its either an escaped domestic ferret or a naturalized ferrel ferret....

But i still think too many people dont realise a ferret is a domesticated native polecat.

[Lou-D]

Originally Posted by Dan Salter

Thanks for clearingthat up lou.

So either way its either an escaped domestic ferret or a naturalized ferrel ferret....

But i still think too many people dont realise a ferret is a domesticated native polecat.

It's a pleasure, Dan.

It's true that the DNA make-up of our domesticated ferret is extremely similar to that of the European polecat (our native species) (if very slightly different) hence the reason they were both placed in the family Mustela putorius (the domesticated ferret has furo added on). However, some experts' opinions differ and they claim that our domesticated ferret is also related to the steppe polecat (Mustela eversamanni). The domesticated ferret is thought to have come to this country first with the Romans and then with the Normans. I'm sure whatever arrived initially has since been bred with our wild polecats to improve the hunting strain, which could explain the dna. The truth is that nobody knows for definite.

May I just point out that the vast majority of our domesticated ferrets will not survive well in the wild and most will starve to death - they have been domesticated for a few thousand years now and their survival instincts have been practically bred out. (They are used mainly for chasing a rabbit out of the burrow rather than killing it) If anybody does spot a ferret in the wild, please could you contact a local ferret rescue who may be able to rescue and rehome it. They are intelligent, interesting and affectionate little animals - I can vouch for that, I've got 11 of the little divils!!

I've attached below the link to one good website which also has links to other rescues throughout the country.

Hull & East Riding Ferret Rescue: Home Page

Many thanks

Lou