wild polecat

[nobjerk 161]

tried this a few years back and found that a generaly calm line of workers was ruined by the agression of the pc x kits.

at least 50% of the litter we bred were very shy at first(when all ferrets were fed the routine was to rattle the cage front to bring them all forward to give me access to a food bowl trap , the pc x would always stay in tubes or behind items obviously hiding) then just plain nasty no matter how often they were handled . all were reared in a creche system were other jills had standard litters and we had no problems with our normal lines. gave it up as a bad decision.

[Guest bluemink]

I don't think it would be cruel to let a wild polecat have his wicked way with a jill, but I'd question the legality of catching/killing them in the first place. And imagine it would be illegal to keep them without a home office license?

this might help http://www.shootinguk.co.uk/qa/91197/What_...g_polecats.html

[lift boy 0]

There is a guy on youtube displaying a pair of polecat kits, he compares them to ferrets. Judging by what ive looked in to, they would not be very tame, and also a guy I saw working the other day had one on a lanyard like old school style.

[Guest lavyheed]

I don't think it would be cruel to let a wild polecat have his wicked way with a jill,

 

Not too cruel if the polecat hob isn't too aggressive and doesn't do any permanent damage to the jill!

[Quixote 9]

great sport for the pups!!

 

Great fuel for the anti's mate.............

[Guest lavyheed]

There is a guy on youtube displaying a pair of polecat kits, he compares them to ferrets. Judging by what ive looked in to, they would not be very tame, and also a guy I saw working the other day had one on a lanyard like old school style.

 

Sounds like it could be James Mckay? I think he has hybrids.

 

Also has written few good books on ferrets as well.

[waidmann 105]

i've not looked it up but i would question the legality of causing any un due stress to a protected mammal?

undue would be anything longer than taking it to someone elses shoot to release

i would be carefull with breeding/keeping/swapping or god forbid dealing with polecats. most farmers who do not have poultry will be glad to house one in a barn with nearby pond/wet woods etc, even this is questionable.

the only thing is to ask the home office what to do with caught mustelids(sleeping dogs and all that!!)

 

great looking creatures,very interesting in behaviorally and seldom seen in england so i'm told.

good luck.

["Earth!" 503]

great sport for the pups!!

 

Great fuel for the anti's mate.............

 

 

think you will find there are higher things on their agend than a terrier killed a feral ferret.

[Guest lavyheed]

think you will find there are higher things on their agend than a terrier killed a feral ferret.

 

I didn't realise that feral ferrets are protected!! Loads of real feral ferrets in Forfar too.

[don1 1]

ha ferret boy u sound like a anti go for it let us no how you go on if you go a head with it i got a good working strain off ferrets luckale i never had a non worker odvieslie every one has there best ferrets and there worst lol

[RaiderBoy 19]

i think if you were to breed wild polecats with ferrets it would take out all the good qualities that hundreds of years of selective breeding has given them such as not being able to handle them and them not hiding from you but if you have the oppetunity to do then go for it, see what happens

 

Richard

[max abell 196]

Why on earth anyone would want to breed a wild polecat with a domesticated working ferret astounds me

if you need to go to these extreams to get better working ferrets you obviously have got the wrong ferrets

get yourself some better working ones and leave the wild polecats where they are supposed to be in the WILD

[Brimmer 220]

Domestic ferrets do too good a job below ground for some people, and take a load of handling as young ones so they become bombproof. Its taken 100's of years to get them that way, after a few generations of them being feral they are still far too much for most. Me included!

[dogs-n-natives 1,182]

I have posted my experience of trying this on a few previous threads, but il slap it on again here... I lent a pure wild polecat to line my jill (which was a great worker) the resulting kits were shy and skittish, and nothing like normal ferrets, i could handle them, but they didnt like it! as for work, forget it! kept a jill back to breed from the next year with a good hob, still the kits were utter crap compared to my line of working ferrets.... needless to say, i gave up totally put off by the whole thing.

This was about 13 years ago, and i blame youthful entheusiasm, as i belived the wild genes would improve hunting ability... which it may well have, but the buggers were wild with it, and workers need to be good to handle as well as good at working a warren and re-apearing when all bunnies are out or dead.

The first crosses just slinked away into the dark, a rabbit might bolt, might not, but they would just hide there, id glimpse them at an entrance and they would slip away again... really anoying!! appart from the ones i bred off, the rest were tried and failed and put to sleep. end of.

 

 

Luckily i had kept going with my good working ferrets and still have the same line today. I agree with brimmer, that even our well bred domestic ferrets take a good bit of handling to become good workers and this has taken 100's of years to achieve, so why f**k the whole thing up by starting again from the begining???? madness!

[Moe 108]

my mate tried this combo and were exactly like nobjerk said earlyer could not do a thing with them bad move