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Polecat - Ferret hybrid


Scuzy

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Hi all,

 

Ive been hearing alot about Polecat - Ferret hybrids recently and my friend says he knows someone who catches wild polecats and breeds them with his normal ferret :icon_eek:.

Has anyone heard of this or ever owned a pure polecat?

Also, are there any diferences between true polecats and ferrets e.g. larger, etc... apart from the fact that polecats are wild?

And one more question, if you released your ferret could it survive perfectly OK in the wild?

 

Luke.

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I was under the impression that there is no difference between the two, and most so called "wild" polecats are merely just escapie ferrets, returning to polecat

type colouring after a few generations in the wild.

 

Not that this is a bad thing, survival of the fittest and all, just that ferrets, genetically, are polecats.

 

 

The european polecat is no more on this island, as far as I was aware, after reading up on some genetic studies carried out on native, or as it showed, non

native populations of "wild" pole cats.

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i whent dow this road many many moons ago and the wastage is just not worth the hassle ... untill the wild polecat gene is diluted to about a 1/4 (so 3/4 ferret 1/4 wild polecat) you will have a nightmare handeling them ... however they do make very good workers with what seems to be a better finding and flushing rate than your run of the mill ferret ... but as i said its not for the faint hearted or thin skinned lol ....

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I was under the impression that there is no difference between the two, and most so called "wild" polecats are merely just escapie ferrets, returning to polecat

type colouring after a few generations in the wild.

 

Not that this is a bad thing, survival of the fittest and all, just that ferrets, genetically, are polecats.

 

 

The european polecat is no more on this island, as far as I was aware, after reading up on some genetic studies carried out on native, or as it showed, non

native populations of "wild" pole cats.

 

paid get yourself down to west wales and you will see wild polecats in their plenty ... they are a far cry from the domestic variety .... oh just dont try picking one up or you will be nicknamed three fingers freddy from that day on lol ...........

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i whent dow this road many many moons ago and the wastage is just not worth the hassle ... untill the wild polecat gene is diluted to about a 1/4 (so 3/4 ferret 1/4 wild polecat) you will have a nightmare handeling them ... however they do make very good workers with what seems to be a better finding and flushing rate than your run of the mill ferret ... but as i said its not for the faint hearted or thin skinned lol ....

 

 

Spot on Socks :thumbs: I've also tried the same with negative results. You'd need skin like a rhino and a high pain threshold to make a go of it :o Stick to good working ferrets would be my advice.

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Ive been hearing alot about Polecat - Ferret hybrids recently and my friend says he knows someone who catches wild polecats and breeds them with his normal ferret.

I know of quite a few hybrids here ind Denmark. There is a danish lady who has alot of ferrets, amoung them a couple of hybrid lines. With severel unreleated hybrids. But she is not the only one, there is hybridferrets in a couple of linages here. Not uncommen.

In DK we have this "belive" that wild ferrets are stronger and more healthier than tame ferrets. Because they were breed by nature, survivor of the strongest/fittest and so on. So all the bad genes have been sorted away (a prettier word than died).

When ever we come across a hybrid or wild ferret it is by accident. No one goes out and catch them, that is illegal. But one time a family got a surprise visit from a tame ferret jill. 3 weeks later they had not 1 but 9 ferrets. And handeling the kits and seeing their colors, it was diffnently a wild ferret hob. I've had 4 of the kits in my hands, 4 very different temperments going from seriosly mad, to scared to death.

One bit everyone (she is coming around now, but will never be normal), one had to be put to sleep because he was insane (ha had also been abused by prevoius owner! :censored: ), one is 50/50 has his good and bad days. One is like a normal ferret in every way, one is a bit weird, but nothing special, you see what I mean? They are all different in their temperment. And this is just one litter of kits.

 

Has anyone heard of this or ever owned a pure polecat?

I have a friend who has a 100% wild ferret. She was found by a hunter 3-4 days old, my friend and her girlfriend handraised the kit, and she is now 1½ years old. Sweet but extremely clever! She can walk on the walls and is a real bitch, but in same time the most affectionatly little jill, who loves her mummy. They applied for permission to keep her from the gouverment, and got it. As you would have to with any wild animal in Denmark.

The ferret dosen't like strangers.

 

Also, are there any diferences between true polecats and ferrets e.g. larger, etc... apart from the fact that polecats are wild?

Ehmm... Wild ferrets are a bit smaller than tame ferrets. They have a distinct yellowish colouring and are generally darker in color than tame ferrets. (now you can get tame ferrets i every colors, but with all the hybrids i have seen this is my explanation)

 

And one more question, if you released your ferret could it survive perfectly OK in the wild?

That depends on the ferret and how it is kept.

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ive been doing my reasearch and there is distinct differnces in there teeth, skulls and polecats have 4 genes differnce. there temp is a bit "keener" too, and of course polecats are frosty colours than ferrets that come in every colour.

 

not sure with teh crosses, but it made clear that dogs and wolves etc can breed and make fertile offsrping but they are a different speices and mixing them should be avoided! it said that there can be a few defects in a litter that are ferret/polecat mix.

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Frase if what your saying is right that the pure bred polecats arnt nippy , whats the point in breeding hybrids , as you pointed out there neither one thing or another , is it just me that does not get this whole ''hybrid thing'' :laugh:

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I read somewhere, (on this site, i think) that the poley X's were faster and more likely to kill in the ground, as a wild animal that chases it prey, but don't catch it wouldn't last long. I don't see the point, unless you like digging, or your line of ferrets were useless.

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julia wild polecats are not smaller than tame ferrets infact they are nearly twice the size of an average tame ferret .........

nope thare roufghlay same size sum of the dogs can get big (dog is a hob polecat) my frend has a copple that came from wild for breeding and sum of the pures he has bred are as taim as anay ferret the first xes can be nippyer due to the wild and domesatated genses combineing haveing no feal but still being wild but pure wild polecat will and can be taim and 1/4 polecat shoodent be nippy eatehr due to the geense being dilouted if anay 1 has anay questions about hybrids or true whild polecats pm me and i will ask my frend after all he went to unaveristay studdied them and getting paied to researtch them :notworthy:

 

 

atb

 

fraser

 

i come from south west wales and the place has plenty of wild polecats and they ARE bigger than a normal ferret fact .... as i said i whent down this road many moons ago and had a few wild polecat hobs in my runs and believe me there is no way on earth you would be able to tame them ... i have lost a few ferrets when out hunting to wild polecats ... they are fast and efficient killers as a few of my smaller ferrets found out ..........

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julia wild polecats are not smaller than tame ferrets infact they are nearly twice the size of an average tame ferret .........

 

Maybe i'm wrong. I base my statement upon the hybrids i have had in my hands. (about 5 f1, and a dusin others with x'es further out in the linage). They are not 100% wild, only 50% but everyone was a bit smaller than tame ferrets. Only a bit.

That made sence in my world, as the tame ferrets we keep are feed good healthy food everyday, they are protected from having to find their own food and catch it to survive, they don't have to dig a hole to sleep in, they get nesting materiel from us people.

So my experience with hybrids (F1 only) are:

They are a bit smaller than tame ferrets

They are much more athletic, and can almost climb straight up a wall.

Most are nervous or angry ferrets.

They are absolutely gorgeous!

They are a challange to work with, so they need a owner who is ready to spend hours and hours working on their temperment, make them less nervous or less angry.

They have a dark color, with a yelloweish undercoat.

They are very strong, and very very intelligent!

 

 

But these are only my experiences. And every ferret is not the same.

As was mentched earlier in this tread, some "wild ferrets" are escapies from a fur farm. Remenber that fur farms breed a light colored sable. Not as dark as real wild ferrets. And farmferrets tend to get big as they are feed food designed to make them big, designed for minks.

 

A picture of a F1 jill

thora1nl9.jpg

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