In winter their coat molts to silvery-gray for camouflage. The name "polecat" comes from the French "poule chat" meaning "the chicken cat," referring to polecat hunting and eating chickens. European polecats are able to interbreed with ferrets. These hybrid animals have the appearance of large European polecats and are sterile. The polecat is the only ancestor of the ferret, domesticated more than years earlier in order to hunt animals classified as 'vermin'.
Polecats were almost brought to extinction in Britain at the close of the nineteenth century by gamekeepers, but this nocturnal hunter is currently making a comeback. If you dream about a polecat this is supposed to be a positive sign.
These animals are considered a symbol of an upcoming productive and fruitful period in life. References 1. Included in Lists Mammals of Denmark. Mammals of Slovenia. Mammals of Ukraine. Mammals of Czech Republic. Related Animals Black-Footed Ferret. European Mink. Least Weasel. Japanese Weasel. Domesticated Ferret. Steppe Polecat. Polecat diet relates to two potential risks to recovery. First, rabbits Oryctolagus cuniculus , which are important prey for polecats, have experienced extreme population fluctuations, with near extirpation due to myxomatosis in the s, recovery in s—s and declines in s—s.
Second, polecats are secondarily exposed to anticoagulant rodenticides by eating contaminated rodents, and the frequency of polecat exposure to rodenticides is increasing. We analysed stomach contents from 99 polecats collected in — and compared results with earlier studies.
Diet varied seasonally; lagomorph occurrence was highest in spring and summer and lowest in autumn. Dietary niche breadth was greater in the s, when rabbits were scarce, than in other decades, but did not differ between the s and s, indicating that diets have not diversified with recent rabbit declines.
This may be because rabbit abundance is not yet low enough to cause dietary diversification or because polecats were collected in areas where rabbits were still abundant.
This potentially limits the effectiveness of management actions designed to minimise polecat exposure to contaminated rodent prey. Successfully colonizing species often demonstrate ecological flexibility during the process of population establishment and expansion Rosecchi et al. Some species have flexible foraging strategies that allow them to exploit variation in resource availability across temporal and spatial scales Zhou et al. The European polecat Mustela putorius is a medium-sized mustelid carnivoran that is currently recolonising its former range in Great Britain, following catastrophic declines, mostly in the nineteenth century Langley and Yalden ; Sainsbury et al.
A significant element of this period of range expansion has coincided with extreme fluctuations in populations of rabbits Oryctolagus cuniculus Sumption and Flowerdew ; Aebischer et al.
It is unknown whether polecats in Britain may have altered their feeding strategy in response to recent rabbit declines and whether these declines may have impacted on their continued recolonisation. Optimal foraging theory predicts that animals will maximise their net energy intake MacArthur and Pianka ; Pyke et al.
For instance, specialist predators have narrow dietary niches and will forage for specific prey species, independent of their availability, whereas generalists have comparatively large dietary niches and consume prey in proportion to their availability Futuyma and Moreno ; Amundsen While polecats exhibit dietary diversity across their range, there is some evidence of regional specialisation.
For example, polecats specialise on rabbits in the Mediterranean Santos et al. In this example, polecats exhibited a very narrow dietary niche and clear preferential selection for frogs. Whilst more recent studies in Britain have found that polecats predominantly eat lagomorphs Blandford ; Birks and Kitchener , in periods when rabbit populations were severely reduced due to disease outbreaks, notably during the s and s due to myxomatosis Sumption and Flowerdew , mammals comprised a much smaller proportion of polecat diet Walton There is also evidence of seasonal consumption of rodents including brown rats Rattus norvegicus and field voles Microtus agrestis particularly in the winter months Birks ; Birks and Kitchener Rabbit populations recovered to their pre-myxomatosis levels by the s Aebischer et al.
Analysis of changes in rabbit records between and reveals spatial variation in rabbit declines, with the greatest reductions in central and southern England, along the Scottish borders and in north-east Scotland Massimino et al. In Spain, generalist carnivorans such as red fox Vulpes vulpes , badger Meles meles and genet Genetta genetta reduced their consumption of rabbits in response to declines in rabbit populations following RHD outbreaks Ferreras et al. In contrast, whilst rabbit consumption by Iberian lynx Lynx pardinus , which are near-obligate predators of rabbits, also reduced, lynx continued to preferentially select rabbits in spite of their reduced availability Ferreras et al.
Given that polecats in Britain are known to eat rodents and amphibians as well as rabbits Blandford ; Birks and Kitchener , it is possible that reductions in rabbit populations would lead to polecats diversifying their diet.
Rodents are thought to be the major route by which polecats are exposed to second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides SGARs in Britain Shore et al. Secondary exposure of polecats to SGARs increased 1. It may be that this increase has been a result of an increase in the proportion of rodents in polecat diet. Secondary exposure to SGARs may be lethal in sufficient concentration, or lead to a range of sub-lethal effects Van den Brink et al.
Increased rates of secondary exposure to SGARs have not prevented polecat expansion over the same time period Sainsbury et al. Between-sex dietary differences have been observed in some mustelids McDonald Studies of polecat diet in Britain have previously found that female polecats tend to eat fewer rabbits and more birds than male polecats, though these differences were not statistically significant Blandford ; Birks and Kitchener It is possible that as rabbit abundance has declined, increased competition for available rabbits may have led to more pronounced dietary differences between male and female polecat diets.
To explore dietary variation and niche breadth in polecats during the process of polecat population recovery and rabbit population variation, we analysed gut contents from polecats collected from to and compared our findings with earlier analyses of polecat diet in Britain in the s Walton , s Blandford and s Birks and Kitchener We hypothesised that i rabbits will be reduced in importance in polecat diet compared with the s in response to reduced rabbit abundance; ii rodent prey will have increased as a proportion of diet over the same period; iii polecat dietary niche breadth will have fluctuated over time, in line with known long-term variations in rabbit abundance and iv rabbit consumption will have differed between the sexes.
Date of collection and location were recorded. Animals were stored frozen until necropsy examination, which was carried out at National Museums Scotland.
Stomach contents were collected from 99 polecats Fig. Identifiable macroscopic animal remains undigested body parts, fragments of bone, feathers, fur, individual hair and insect remains were separated from unidentifiable tissues.
Ten samples were selected at random and were analysed for earthworm Lumbricidae chaetae and other microscopic remains after Reynolds and Aebischer No identifiable microscopic remains were found. As there is no evidence from previous dietary studies to suggest that polecats eat earthworms e.
Plant debris was considered to have been ingested when catching prey Walton and was not included in diet composition quantification. Map showing the collection locations of polecat carcasses collected between and Shaded circles indicate polecats with items in their stomach.
White circles indicate stomachs that were empty. Fur remains were identified using guard hair cuticle patterns after Teerink All loose hairs were collected and analysed. Mammal remains were identified to species level, except for rabbits and brown hares Lepus europaeus , which were not separated and were classified as lagomorphs. Most bones were fragmented and unidentifiable, but those that were intact, together with teeth, were identified as insectivore, rodent, larger mammal or amphibian to species level using personal collections and appropriate keys e.
Thomas ; Inns Bird remains were identified to order using Day Amphibians were determined by skin texture and, where possible, by webbing on feet Inns Fishes were identified by their bones and scales but were not identified to species, as fish were a rare item and not of primary interest. Kits are born with white, silky fur and huddle together in cold weather while in hot weather they lay spread apart. The kits are weaned after 4 weeks and fully grown in around 3 months.
The average life span of a polecat is 5 years. Polecats were once almost extinct in Britain. They are considered to be a pest of game and poultry and have been wrongly persecuted for this. They were formerly killed for their fur.
Despite diminishing populations, they are not considered to be endangered. Image Source. Unless a female has a litter, or is in season, polecats will strongly defend their territory. They are primarily nocturnal although females with young have been known to forage during the day. Their sense of vision is not very acute; they rely mainly on their sense of smell to track and kill prey. Mustela putorius is carnivorous and generally preys on rodents and rabbits. It is a testament to the polecat's ferocity that it can and will take down a rabbit that is much larger than itself.
Should food become scarce, polecats also eat insects and fruit, though they are much less able to handle the digestion of these foods than either canids or ursids.
Polecats are important predators of small mammals in the ecosystems in which they live. European polecats help to control rodent populations. Their domesticated descendant, the household ferret Mustela putorius furo , is a popular pet and has been used in hunting for millenia.
They have also been hunted for their fur, which is considered valuable, though not as valuable as that of other mustelids such as mink or ermine. As with other mammalian carnivores, polecats can be rabies vectors. They can also carry distemper and the common cold, causing problems for dogs and humans, respectively. They can occasionally damage poultry farms, as they will kill more than they can eat and drag the rest off for later. Polecats are common throughout Europe and are neither threatened or endangered.
In otherwords, Europe and Asia and northern Africa. In birds, naked and helpless after hatching. Animals with bilateral symmetry have dorsal and ventral sides, as well as anterior and posterior ends. Synapomorphy of the Bilateria. Endothermy is a synapomorphy of the Mammalia, although it may have arisen in a now extinct synapsid ancestor; the fossil record does not distinguish these possibilities. Convergent in birds.
Iteroparous animals must, by definition, survive over multiple seasons or periodic condition changes. Referring to something living or located adjacent to a waterbody usually, but not always, a river or stream. Coniferous or boreal forest, located in a band across northern North America, Europe, and Asia.
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