Norfolk Wildlife Trust looks at rise in number of polecats

The successful re-introduction and re-establishment of an animal by wildlife conservationists is often announced with a fanfare.

Be it beaver, that are now living wild in Britain, the propagation and release of the large blue butterfly, or the amazing revival of red kite and otter, both of which can now be found in every county of the UK.

All these creatures have one thing in common; it was human activity that led to their decline or extinction, but our intervention and efforts that brought about their recovery.

There is one animal, a relatively large mammal (certainly in UK terms) that few people have heard of but has a fascinating story of sad decline and miraculous resurgence.

(Image: Tom Hibbert)

This animal’s rapid spread across the country has happened with very little notice paid to it, and right under our noses.

For the polecat has achieved it without the usual pandering, project funding, years of research and frequent press releases.

This charismatic species, from its small enclave in remote central Wales, has spread back across the English countryside, reaching East Anglia about a decade ago.

Now, here in Norfolk, sightings of this once rare mammal are increasing every year.

The polecat is not a cat at all, but a Mustelid, belonging to the same family as the stoat, badger and otter.

Like the stoat it is has a long back in relation to its legs. Its fur is buff brown above, but darker around the tail, legs and neck.

It has a pale face and its ‘bandit mask’ is its most obvious, and endearing, feature. It is slightly larger than a domestic ferret, which is its tamed ancestor – although anyone who has owned a ferret, as I have, know that one uses the word ‘tame’ advisedly.

The domestication of the polecat, and the selective breeding of it into the form of a ferret, is quite ancient.

Using ferrets to drive rabbits from their burrows is a practice that can be traced back to Roman times, although stuffing a ferret down one’s trouser leg seems a more recent occupation for them. No wonder they so often try to escape! 

Escaped domestic ferrets, which are generally albino, seem to survive comfortably in the wild and polecat / ferret hybrids are not uncommon where polecat numbers are strong.

As a wily and intelligent predator, the easy pickings of a pheasant or hen coop proves irresistible to polecats, so in the past the unremitting vigilance of gamekeepers drove them to near extinction.

(Image: Brian Macfarlane)

Unlike the pine marten and wild cat that found refuge in the highlands of Scotland, the polecat is more a creature of the mixed farmland, chase and common, finding itself being squeezed into the rolling hills of a relatively empty mid-Wales.

In the past polecats were often referred to as the ‘foulmart’ due to the pungent smell that exudes from the animal’s anal gland, and the smell, I’m told, lingers.

Because of this, American mink, rather than polecat, became a preferred fur. This led to widespread, but fortunately short-lived, fur farming of mink in the UK.

The inevitable accidental releases and escapees (some with the help of well-meaning, but in this regard, misguided activists) resulted in the eventual establishment of American mink as a wild animal here.  

The polecat’s natural prey is rats, voles and rabbits, with the occasion bird. They do not climb as readily as pine marten, and certainly avoid swimming like otters, as such, competition with similar native mustelids is avoided.

However, the recent recovery of polecat numbers has had a beneficial effect on native wildlife, as the slightly smaller, but highly destructive, American mink appear to be driven out of polecat territories.

This gives water voles and wetland birds a better chance against the native predator they evolved alongside.

Although, polecats will take birds, and particularly their eggs, it is their taste for rats (another non-native animal that can have a devastating effect on breeding birds) that means that their presence reduces the number of predators that are likely to find and feast on eggs or chicks.

With the gradual spread of their cousin the pine marten, this could have a similar effect on grey squirrels.

This other American interloper commonly takes bird eggs and chicks, particularly tree nesting birds, and is likely to be responsible for the decline of bullfinch and hawfinch, and the disappearance of the golden oriole as a breeding bird in Britain.          

(Image: Elliot Smith)

A lesson to be taken from the return of native predators, such as the polecat, is that they are not another pressure on our native wildlife, but engineers of a healthy eco-system, they create an equilibrium that has been disrupted by persecution and non-native species.

Unfortunately, because of polecats’ nocturnal habits and understandable mistrust of humans, the chance of seeing one in Norfolk is slim, in fact most of our county records have come from roadkill records.

Polecats’ preference is to eat rats and rabbits, but, if you do have a chicken coop, I suggest you check that it’s secure; in medieval times it was believed that the bandit-masked polecat could pick locks!

Polecat facts

• Female polecats are called ‘Jill’ and males ‘Hob’, young polecats are referred to as ‘Kits’.
• Polecats have a two-toned coat with dark guard hairs covering buff-coloured underfur.
• During the reign of Elizabeth I they were declared vermin, and vagabonds were referred to as ‘polecats’ – this may be due to the mask-like markings on the mammal’s face.
• Polecat belong to the same family as stoats and badgers, known as mustelids, they are about the size of a ferret – its domesticated cousin.
• Polecats were close to extinction due to persecution, but since 1960s they have been recovering in numbers, they have spread from Wales and into parts of England.
• Polecats are known for their pungent odour; their other common name is ‘Foulmart’.
• Polecats are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and have also been added to the list of UK BAP mammals to protect for the conservation of biological diversity in England.