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POLECAT

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Originally appearing in Volume V21, Page 977 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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POLECAT , the See also:

common name given to any member of the Musteline genus Putorius (see CARNIVOaA). The polecats See also:form a small See also:group confined to the See also:northern hemisphere, of which the best known and most widely distributed is the common polecat of See also:Europe (P. foetidus or P. putorius). This See also:animal, at least so far as its disposition, See also:size and proportions are concerned, is well known in its domesticated See also:condition as the See also:ferret, which is but a tamed See also:albino variety of the true See also:pole-See also:cat. The See also:colour of the latter, however, instead of the See also:familiar yellowish-See also:white of the ferret, is of a dark See also:brown tint above and See also:black below, the See also:face being variegated with dark brown and white markings. Its See also:skull is rough, strongly ridged, and altogether of a far more powerful type than those of the stoats, weasels or See also:martens; the skull of the See also:female is very much smaller and lighter than that of the male. The See also:fur is See also:long, coarse, and of comparatively small value, and changes its colour very little, if at all, at the different seasons of the See also:year. The polecat ranges over the greater See also:part of Europe, reaching northwards into See also:southern See also:Sweden and in See also:Russia to the region of the White See also:Sea. It does not occur in the extreme See also:south, but is common everywhere throughout central Europe. In the See also:Alps it ranges far above the See also:tree-See also:line during the summer, but retreats in See also:winter to See also:lower ground. It is confined to the northern counties of See also:England and See also:Scotland, where it is becoming very rare, owing to persecutions from See also:game-keepers, and in See also:Ireland it appears to be See also:extinct. In See also:fine See also:weather it lives either in the open See also:air, in holes, See also:fox-earths, See also:rabbit-warrens, under rocks or in See also:wood-stacks; while in winter it seeks the See also:protection of deserted buildings, barns or stables. During the See also:day it sleeps in its hiding See also:place, sallying forth at See also:night to See also:plunder dovecots and See also:hen-houses.

It climbs but little, and shows far less activity than the See also:

marten. It feeds ordinarily on small mammals, such as rabbits, hamsters, rats and mice, on such birds as it can catch, especially poultry and pigeons, and also on See also:snakes, lizards, frogs, See also:fish and eggs. Its See also:prey is devoured only in its lair; but, even though it can carry away but a single victim, it commonly kills everything that comes in its way, often destroying all the inhabitants of a hen-See also:house in See also:order to gratify its See also:passion for slaughter. The pairing See also:time is towards the end of the winter, and the See also:young, from three to eight in number, are See also:born in See also:April or May, after a See also:period of gestation of about two months. The young, if taken See also:early, may be easilytrained, like ferrets, for rabbit-catching. The polecat is very tenacious of See also:life and will See also:bear many severe wounds before succumbing; it is also said to receive with impunity the bite of the See also:adder. Its fetid See also:smell has become proverbial. To this it is indebted for its generic name Putorius (derived, as are also the See also:low See also:Lat. putacius, Fr. putois, and Ital. puzzola, from puteo), as well as the designation foumart (i.e. foul marten) and its other See also:English names, fitchet, fitchew. Attempts to See also:account for the first syllable of the word polecat See also:rest entirely on conjecture. The Siberian polecat (Putorius 'eversmanni) is very like the See also:European in size, colour and proportions, but with See also:head and back both nearly or quite white, and skull more heavily built and sharply constricted behind the orbits, at least in fully adult individuals. It inhabits the greater part of south-western See also:Siberia, extending from See also:Tibet into the See also:steppes of south-eastern European Russia. The black-footed or See also:American polecat (Putorius nigripes) is a native of the central See also:plateau of the See also:United States, and extends southwards into See also:Texas.

It is often called the See also:

prairie-See also:dog See also:hunter, as it is nearly always found in the warrens of that animal. The fur is cream-yellow, the legs are brown, and the feet and tail-tip black. The mottled polecat (Putorius sarmaticus), a See also:species occur-See also:ring in southern Russia and south-western See also:Asia, and extending from eastern See also:Poland to See also:Afghanistan, differs from other polecats both by its smaller size and its remarkable coloration, the whole of the upper-parts being marbled with large irregular reddish spots on a white ground, while the under-See also:side, limbs and tail are deep shining black. Its habits appear to be much like those of the common polecat. (R. L.

End of Article: POLECAT

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