Domestic Polecats
Mustela putorius furo
Fact Sheet
Status: Common
Distribution: The domestic polecat (formerly called European ferret) lives
throughout Europe, northern and western Asia, and in northern Africa; and
in zoos and homes across North America.
Habitat: Geographical regions such as plains, forests, mountains, farms,
deserts, tundra, grasslands, and other bushy areas. Mustela putorius furo is the
species of domesticated ferrets and it is known that they could survive only a few
days in the wild.
Diet: Wild – Much to a farmer’s annoyance, they eat domesticated chickens, and
rabbits, though they also eat other small mammals such as mice rats and voles.
Zoo - Growth formulas of high-quality meat protien; dry kibble, not soft.
Length: 12 – 20 inches (30 – 51 cm), including the 5-inch (13 cm) tail.
Weight: 3-5 pounds
Reproduction: After a gestation period of six weeks, the female gives birth to
anywhere from two to twelve young, who are born blind and remain so for about
twenty days. The domestic polecat usually breeds twice a year. It has a gestation
period of 42-days.
Longevity: Normal life span is from 8 – 10 years.
General Description: A polecat is a small, elongated carnivorous mammal
belonging to the family Mustelidae (mustelid) that also includes weasels, badgers
and otters. With an objectionable odor primarily the result of sex hormones,
castrating male and spaying female ferrets is usually enough to control the
situation. They come in a variety of coat colors and patterns which includes
brown, cinnamon, black and an albino white. Their face is white with a black
mask around.
Behavior: Sociable, playful, intelligent and known for its boldness.
They have a variety of behaviors such as an alligator roll (two polecats ‘flipping’ the
other over), backing into a corner, chasing, joy dances, etc. The European ferret
releases an objectionable odor from its anal glands to protect itself when it is
frightened or attacked.
Did you know? They are the third most popular companion pet in the US,
following dogs and cats. Polecats are actually outlawed in a number of countries.
In the United States, California and Hawaii ban ownership of ferrets.
4001 E. Paisano Drive, El Paso, Texas 79905, Phone: 915-521-1850, Fax: 915-521-1857,
e-mail:[email protected], www.elpasozoo.org.
information from: http://lsb.syr.edu/projects/cyberzoo/europeanferret.html
themselves, having few enemies and a lot of rabbits for food. These
ferrets/European polecats were able to survive in the wild and people in New
Zealand still denominate this animal as a ferret.
Telling the difference between a ferret and a European polecat is difficult. If you
haven't seen both together, there are several ways to tell them apart. First, the
ferret has a smaller, more fragile bone structure. A ferret is usually lighter in
color, and the mask does not reach the tinted neck band like it does with the
European polecat. The back of the ears of a European polecat is dark, whereas it
is light in the ferret. The jaws of the European polecat are much stronger than
those of the ferret and the polecat is more muscular. The European polecat is a
solitary animal and only meets in the mating season, while the ferret loves
company.
The ferret has been domestic for so long that he no longer has the natural
instinct to survive and hunt in the wild. However, a ferret crossed with a polecat
may survive in the wild.
Ferrets that are used for hunting are not supposed to catch rabbits. It is curiosity
that drives them into the rabbit hole and it's their smell that drives the rabbit out;
the hunter and the nets do the rest.
In 1758 Linnaeus named the ferret Mustela Furo. His name prior to that had
been, in Latin, first viverra, later furectus, furetus and furo.
- The famous Greek playwright Aristophanes mentioned ferrets in his satire 'The
Acheans' around the year 450 B.C. He compared these people with ferrets, who
had already established a reputation for themselves as thieves. The Greeks
knew about ferrets, but they did not keep them.
- Recent diggings in the southwest of Europe have uncovered skeletons of
ferrets dating back to 1600 years B.C. But at that time there were no rabbits, so
they must have used them for mice control.
- Aristotle wrote about 'iktis', which means domesticated ferrets, around the year
350 B.C.
- Caesar Augustus sent ferrets (named 'viverrae' by Plinius) to the Balearic
Islands to control the rabbit plagues in 6 B.C.
- Pliny (23-79 A.D.) mentions the rabbit and the ferret, as does Isidore of Seville
in 600 A.D.
- Medieval manuscripts mostly recited Aristotle, until the great hunting
manuscripts appear. There is a reference to the use of ferrets by the Emperor
Frederick II of Germany in 1245. It is said that Genghis Khan used them in a
hunting circle at Termed in 1221 A.D.
- The Normans introduced the rabbit into Britain at the end of the 11th or in the
beginning of the 12th century and the first entry of the ferret in Britain is in 1223
A.D.
- The best manuscript is the Livre de Chasse (the book of the hunt) of Gaston
Phebus, Comte de Foix, who reigned for more than two principalities in southern
France and northern Spain, 1390 A.D.
- In the Middle Ages in England they restricted the ownership of ferrets to those
earning 40 shillings (about $300 today) or more a year.
- The time of the appearance of the white, pink-eyed ferret is unknown, the first
drawing of a white, pink-eyed ferret is in the Sherborne Missal ± 1300 A.D. and
the first reference is by implication in 1421 A.D. in a translation of a French poem
into English as 'The Siege of Thebes' by John of Lydgate (Owen 1969).
- The ferret is described in 1551 as being of the color of wool stained by urine
(Gesner 1551).
- They have been in America for more than 300 years. European polecats mated
with ferrets were later imported into New Zealand for rabbit control.
Now people finally realize what a lovely pet this domestic animal really is. We of
the W.F.U and W.F.I.C. support the care for this pet including their medical
needs and we hope to dispose of misunderstandings about the history and
circumstances of the ferret.
Taken from http://home.planet.nl/~wfu/ferret.html edited by rgg