Welcome to 'Weasel Winter '. We had a report of a pine marten sighting... it was, of course, a polecat and has been seen twice since. Also, two weeks ago I saw a stoat coming out from the beech hedge opposite the chalet. Both animals are members of the weasel family, Mustelidae, which includes the otter and the badger.
'Mustela putorius': the polecat was named from the French, poul-chat or 'chicken cat'. (However, evidence shows that, in fact, they hardly ever eat poultry with 90% of their diet made up from a very diverse selection of prey.) In medieval England its name was 'foulmart', from the pungent, musky smell it can produce as a defence mechanism (and in contrast, the pine martin was known as the 'sweetmart'). So much was it loathed that the name 'polecat' was given to indicate prostitutes, rogues and vagabonds and it was almost as heavily persecuted as the wolf. This continued relentlessly until about 1930 and resulted in extermination everywhere except for a small population in North Wales. They have since recovered and can be seen throughout rural Wales and have spread into the Midlands, South and South-East. There is some academic controversy about their absolute purity as polecats have bred with escaped ferrets for as long as man has kept them.
Polecats are easily recognised by their long, thin weasely shape and black and white mask. Throughout the year their colour can vary but a white patch around the muzzle and white ear tips are clearly visible. Neck, legs and tail are black and they can show buff fur underneath.
Their favoured habitat is woodland, riverbank, marsh and farmland where, using a keen sense of smell, they hunt by day or night for rabbits, rodents, birds, frogs, eels, snakes and worms. Size: 55cm + 20cm tail (femail 10cms overall shorter). Young: one litter of 3-7, born May/June after 40 days gestation, fully grown in 3 mths.
'Mustela erminae': The stoat is one of the bravest and fiercest preditors and is somewhat less than discriminatory in its eating, taking rabbits, voles. mice, birds, eggs, insects and almost anything it can get it's paws on.
In the 1950s it was driven virtually to extinction when the introduction of myxomatosis decimated its preferred prey the rabbit. Its recovery is due to the stoat's ability to survive on such a wide variety of animals and insects. Stoats don't like being in the open and tend to hunt along hedges, ditches, walls or through meadows and marshes searching the area systematically, often in a zig-zag pattern.
Sized about 17cm + 12cm tail the stoat is easily distinguished from it's cousin the weasel by the black tip to the tail and it can live for up to 10 years compared with 3 for the weasel. In winter the animal can turn completely white and is said to be 'in ermine'.
This depends upon the length of the day and so in Northern Scotland the change is complete whilst in Southern England it only goes pale brown with creamy underparts. In all cases the tail tip remains black. Young: one litter a year of between 6-12, usually born in spring following 30 days gestation. Breeding will have taken place in the summer of the preceeding year and the female is able to keep the egg implanted , but not active, until she permits it to gestate a year later. The young can fend for themselves after 5 wks but may continue to suckle for quite some time after.
In ancient times the ermine was thought to prefer death to soiling it's fur and this led to a myth that hunters could catch them by smearing mud on the entrance to it's burrow. The belief was that the animal would defend the entrance rather than soil it's coat by going in. Because of the stoat's courage and the ermine's beauty. It became associated with phrases like "Death before Dishonour" and began to appear on coats of arms as a symbol of a Knight's preference to suffer any hardship or do any deed with valour. Ermine appears on the robes of nobility today as a sign of concience, good reputation and purity.
(Acknowledgement: I always use my own photos in this section but had no camera at either of these sightings, I am very grateful, therefore, to The Wildlife Trusts for use of their stock pics.) www.wildlifetrusts.org
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