Judith Sanders <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
 
>I've seen a pair of the Steppe Polecats at the D.C.  National Zoo... They
>do look a lot like sable domestic ferrets, but they were much bigger.
 
In the wild, Steppe Polecats are no larger than European Polecats, and both
are noticable smaller than ferrets.  Mink in captivity is also larger than
wild mink.
 
I agree that they look more like ferrets than European polecats do, in some
respects, and there are other biological similarities, like the number of
kits.
 
>Many of us who have ferrets of English stock will have some "fitch
>ferret" - part polecat in our bloodlines.
 
It's not uncommon in Sweden either, but how common it is is hard to say, as
there's very little to differentiate them.
 
>However, right now the European polecat is in danger of extinction - I hope
>I'm wrong, but I think the only remaining wild population is in the
>mountains of Wales.
 
No, it's not at all in danger of extinction.  It's common in all of Europe,
apart from the northernmost and southernmost parts, and the British isles.
Check out my web pages for maps.
 
>BTW, there used to be lots of European mink, but Russian fur traders decided
>the American species was better - bigger, "better" fur, so they released a
>bunch of them and now the original Euro-mink is found only in a small area
>of the Baltic states.
 
I think you'll have to look further east than that nowadays.  But there was
a case of a found polecat in Sweden not long ago, that was "mink coloured"
-- but the upper lip was also white.
 
One reason the European mink isn't common any more is that it's fur is very
valuable and it was hunted a lot.  Nerz = European mink.
 
--
 Urban Fredriksson  [log in to unmask]  [log in to unmask]
 Ferrets; Aviation; Railways; Rune stones:  http://www.kuai.se/%7Egriffon/
[Posted in FML issue 1602]