F. Pitt 101 



because I am not aware of any work done on these species, and the notes 

 may draw the attention of other workers to an interesting subject for 

 research. 



II. Description of the Polecat and the Ferret. 



(a) The Polecat, M. putorius, resembles the domestic ferret in build 

 and general appearance. The males generally exceed 400 mm. in length 

 (head and body), the females being smaller and averaging but 350 mm. 

 Its most obvious superficial characteristic is its deep blackish brown 

 colouring that has almost a plum tint, and which is much darker than 

 the hue of the deepest of so-called "polecat" ferrets. The colour deepens 

 into black on the underparts and extremities. The coat consists of two 

 kinds of fur, a thick drab or yellowish wool next the skin, and a longer 

 covering of coarse shining black hairs, which repel rain and damp. The 

 exact hue of the animal differs according to the season and the propor- 

 tions in which the two kinds of fur are present. In the winter, when the 

 woollen under-fur is thickest and longest, the polecat appears lighter 

 than after the summer moult. It often appears larger than its true size 

 owing to its habit, when frightened or annoyed, of erecting its fur and 

 fluffing out its thick tail. At the same time it makes a hissing noise, 

 and if this attempt at intimidation fails ejects from its anal glands a 

 most evil-smelling fluid. How disgusting an odour it is only those who 

 have smelt it can appreciate ! The polecat is highly nervous in disposi- 

 tion and I have never succeeded in taming one caught adult. In shape 

 the polecat is not so light or elegant as the ferret, being somewhat more 

 heavily built. Its head is decidedly blunter in both sexes, and, when 

 viewed from above, forms roughly an equilateral triangle. The muzzle, 

 tips of the ears, and a small patch of fur over each eye, are greyish white. 

 The latter patches sometimes join to form a pale band across the face, but 

 this is never so pronounced as in the dark form of the ferret (see PI. XV, 

 figs. 2 and 3). The skull is strongly built, but not more so than in the 

 ferret, from which, however, it differs in several particulars, namely in the 

 more flattened triangular bullae, the greater breadth of the post-orbital 

 region, which in this species averages 18 mm. in the male, and the larger 

 size of the carnassial teeth. Furthermore, in such polecat skulls as I have 

 been able to examine, the ridges extending from the post-orbital processes 

 to the sagittal crest form a much longer and more acute angle than they 

 do in ferret skulls (see Diagram I, figs. 1 and 2). But I must add that 

 Miller (3) figures a polecat skull with ridges forming as blunt an angle as 

 that of any ferret's skull. The polecat ranges through Europe eastward, 



7—2 



