This month, NHSN naturalist Chris Wren takes a closer look at one of the North East’s most elusive mammals – the Polecat
The Polecat is one of the North East’s rarest and most elusive mammals. Shy and mostly nocturnal in habit, it is smaller than a domestic cat and very distinctive in appearance with dark fur, paler underfur on the body which shows through, and a bandit mask of dark fur around the eyes.
Polecats are members of the Mustelid (weasel) family which also includes weasels, stoats, pine martens, badgers, otters and American mink. They were on the verge of extinction in England by the end of the 19th century, mainly because of persecution by gamekeepers, but in recent decades they have been slowly making a comeback. They are now found (but rarely seen) across much of southern and central England but in the North East they are mainly confined to western parts of County Durham and southwest Northumberland.
I am indebted to Jane and Gareth Hughes for letting me set trail cameras on their land in Allendale. The first video shows a Polecat investigating the camera box.
The polecat’s scientific name (Mustela putorius) gives a clue to its notorious smelliness (another name is foul mart). I suspect this one left a scent mark in the camera box because nothing else visited for eight days. Then a vole came in but it was ten days before the first mouse – normally the box is a favourite with wood mice from the word go. Another of the cameras did catch the polecat leaving a scent mark elsewhere.
The next two videos show a Polecat exploring its territory, mainly by scent.
Polecats hunt and eat rabbits, but will also take rats, other small mammals, birds and amphibians. They prefer rural lowland areas and will often make a den in a rabbit burrow in summer, sometimes moving into farm buildings in winter. They mate in late winter, and the kits are born in late spring and are raised solely by their mother.
NHSN members Maureen and Alistair Stevens have kindly shared this trail camera recording of a family of young Polecats in their barn in Hexhamshire in daylight. This video has no sound.
There is a National Polecat Survey underway until the end of this year, organised by the Vincent Wildlife Trust. If you see a polecat, particularly if you have a photo or video, be sure to report your finding.