Q1: "What I need are the physical differences between wild polecats and
domestic ferrets."
Q2: "Sometime, when you have a few minutes, would you tell me what the
%#$% # !! a polecat is? My wife and I are from Suthen Noo Yawk and
where we came from a pole cat was a seriously oderiferous black and
white striped bushy critter. I get a strong impresson references to
pole cat on the FML ain't talkin' about skunks."
A: Only in reference to the CaCaLand Fishing Gestapo and Fecal-Brains.
The domesticated ferret is a polecat, as is the European polecat, the
steppe polecat and the black-footed ferret. Some authorities call the
group "ferrets" rather than polecats, but the argument is kind of moot
if you understand polecats are ferrets. All four animals are grouped in
the subgenus "Putorius," which is a subgroup of the genus "Mustela,"
which include weasels, mink and polecats. "Polecat" is a European term,
specifically referring to ferrets and polecats, but was adopted as a term
for their smelly cousins in the New World when early explorers met up with
relatives of Pepe Le Pew.
As for the physical differences between the wild polecats and domesticated
ferrets, there are not really a lot. That doesn't mean ferrets are
"semi-domesticated," or they are only "recently domesticated"; what it
means is that during the domestication process, those traits that made
ferrets useful to humans did not require a great deal of physical change.
Most of the changes are in physiology, reproduction and behavior--not what
you would normally consider visually observable differences between living
domesticated ferrets and their wild antecendents. The list is small...
1. Most changes in appearance are due to the effects of neutering and diet
rather than from actual physical differences. I have seen numerous
examples of comparisons between wild polecats and neutered domesticated
ferrets used to illustrate the changes of domestication. In most cases,
the actual changes are due to male effeminization after castration and/or
dietary differences, NOT domestication. A neutered male has a different
shaped head than a whole male and the specific diet of an animal has long
been recognized as influencing the final shape of the head because of the
differences in shape of the muscles and attachments.
2. In general (but not necessarily for individuals) the domesticated
ferret has a head that is slighty shorter than the polecat, giving the
ferret a more juvenile appearance. From my rigorous morphometrical
investigations, this trait has been over-emphasized in the literature to
"prove" domestication. In truth, the difference is there, but it is
statistically insignificant. 95% is considered statistically significant,
and the changes in the ferret (in this regard) only reach about 60%.
3. The domesticated ferret has slightly less prominent ears and are
somewhat "rounder" than polecats. Polecat ears, while essentially the
same, do seem to be slightly more "pointed" than domesticated ferret ears.
This is especially true in the steppe polecat and black-footed ferret when
compared to the domesticated ferret. Also, and I think this is because of
muscular changes, the ears of polecats seem to ride "higher" on the skull
than those of domesticated ferrets.
4. The fur color of the domesticated ferret (when comparing dark sables
only) is lighter in color. The facial mask of the polecat is darker and
with less white facial markings. Domesticated ferrets will sometimes have
a dark bar or stripe on the forehead which extends from the mask to the top
of the head; wild polecats generally do not have a bar connecting the mask
to the head. Polecats have prominant white "eyebrows" and the ears are
prominantly ringed with white. Domesticated ferrets can lack these white
markings, or can have them, but not as prominant.
5. Domesticated ferrets are physically larger than polecats; perhaps by
as much as 10-20%. HOWEVER, because most male ferrets are castrated
effeminates, this trait is often overlooked and polecats are seen as either
similar in size, or even larger.
6. The eye slits of domesticated ferrets are generally smaller, giving the
appearance of a smaller eye.
Those are the major outwardly visable differences. What is NOT true
is that the ferret has undergone SIGNIFICANT physical juvenilization,
characteristic of some other domesticated animals, like the dog or cat
(Yep, all those polecat v. ferret diagrams used to "prove" juvenilization
of the ferret as "proof" of domesticated are "exaggerated for clarity").
Part of this is probably because polecats have no real foreheads, so when
the muzzle is shortened, it doesn't make the forehead more prominant. In
other words, because the cranium of the ferret is flattened and behind the
face, when the face is shortened, there is no real visual difference. In a
dog, the face is lower than the cranium, so when the face is shortened, the
cranium becomes more prominant, making the face seem more juvenile. Also,
juvenilization is less prominant in working animals compared to companion
animals, and ferrets are historically used as working animals.
Juvenilization is overstated by some scientists who are looking at
domestication in a biased view; they want some sort of trait that easily
separates one group from another (wild from domesticated) and since they
are well accquainted with dogs, push the juvenilization idea. Behavior
is FAR more important. Even better, the age of weaning in domesticated
animals is shorter than in their wild antecendents; domestication causes
animals to mature sooner and grow faster than wild animals, through both
dietary and genetic manipulations. An eight-week-old polecat is a helpless
creature that isn't completely weaned, quite unlike a ferret the same age.
Bob C and 18 MO' Scoobie Snack Sharks
[Posted in FML issue 2808]
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