Opps, forgot a reference.
 
Wolsan (in Niethammer and Krapp) 1993 "Handbuch der Saugetiere Europas"
Band 5/11, Raubsauger (Teil II), p. 753-754.  In this extensive chapter
on the European polecat that predates the genetics work of Davison and
Birks (among others), Wolsan recognizes two subspecies, Mustela putorius
putorius and Mustela putorius furo.  There is no mention of "Mustela
putorius berberii" in this excellent work, and Wolsan subsumes all
European polecats, from Spain to Eastern Europe, within a single
subspecies, "Mustela putorius putorius."  Wolsan accepts previous
suggestions the European polecat is the progenitor of the ferret.
Since the publication of this work, Davison, Birks, and others have done
extensive genetic studies that have called into question the ferret
progenitor, effectively removing it from the subspecies list.  Since you
need at least two groups to have subspecies, losing the ferret from the
list means there are no recognized subspecies for the European polecat.
At this time, you simply have Mustela putorius and Mustela furo.
 
My first post might to some seem a bit sharp or terse, but if so, it is
not intended.  The post is information dense, sorry, and I had to cut my
usual banter to make it fit the FML length allowance.  As I tried to say
at the beginning of the post, I greatly appreciate posts by Olivier (and
others), and I hope such thought-provoking posts are continued.  The FML
is an international community, and I greatly appreciate both the
different point of view, as well as the great information offered by
non-American ferret owners.
 
Olivier: Merci de votre poteau pensif et j'espere voir plus a l'avenir.
Je suis heureux de connaitre les Francais fais partie de la communaute
de furet.
 
Bob C (Boy, I sure hope I translated that correctly!  If I accidently
mentoned something about body parts or functions, I apologize)
 
[Moderator's note: Even if you got it right, I'm sure I butchered it
when converting it to plain boring Americanized text (i.e. sans accents,
diacriticals, etc.  BIG]
[Posted in FML issue 4088]