SKULL OF POLECAT. (After Coues.)
The Polecat is also known as the Fitchet (Fitchew of Shakspere), Foumart, or Foulimart: the latter names are said to be a contraction of “Foul Marten,” thus distinguishing it from the Common or Sweet Marten, which is a comparatively inodorous animal. The name Polecat is probably a contraction of Polish Cat.
The Polecat is perhaps even more destructive than the other Mustelidæ, and is certainly a far greater plague to the farmer. Its ravage among Rabbits, Hares, and Partridges is immense, and if once it gets unobserved into a poultry-yard, the fate of a very considerable number of the inmates is sealed, as it possesses in a high degree the family love of slaughter for slaughter’s sake. It has been known to kill as many as sixteen Turkeys in a single night; and, indeed, it seems a point of honour with this bloodthirsty little creature to kill everything it can overpower, and to leave no survivors on its battlefields. It has, too, an unfortunate liking for eggs, as well as for game and poultry, and in this way alone does great harm to preserves. There are also many accounts of its fondness of fish; Bell also quotes an instance in which a female Polecat was pursued to her nest, and was found to have laid up, in a side hole, a store of food, consisting of forty Frogs and two Toads, all of which she had skilfully “pithed,” that is, bitten through the brain, so that, although retaining a certain amount of vitality, they were effectually prevented from running away!
1. POLECAT. 2. FERRET.
The Polecat is found throughout Northern Europe, not extending southwards into the warmer parts of the Continent, but being quite at home in snow-covered regions. It is essentially, like the Marten, a sub-arctic and temperate animal.
THE FERRET.[173]
This is a domesticated variety of the genus Putorius, of African origin. It shows its Southern nature by being, unlike the Polecat, unable to endure great cold; even an English winter is enough to kill it if not properly housed. It is an interesting animal, zoologically, from the fact that it is a true-breeding Albino, having the white fur and pink eyes of that peculiar “sport.” It is a little smaller than the Polecat, with which it will breed with perfect readiness, producing hybrids intermediate in character between the two parent species.