6o 
CARNIVORES. 
northwards from Poland, whence it extends into Western Asia, where it is common 
in the neighbourhood of Kandahar. 
Black-Footed Lastly, we have the American, or black-footed polecat (M. 
Polecat. nigripes), which is generally of a brownish-white colour, with the 
feet, the tip of the tail, and a broad stripe across the forehead, black. It is larger 
than the common species; the length of the head and body measuring 19 inches, 
and that of the tail, with the hair at the end, 5J inches. It inhabits the central 
plateau of the United States, ranging as far south as Texas. 
The habits of all these five species of polecat appear to be 
very similar, and the whole of them are characterised by their 
extremely fetid odour. From the barren nature of the country which it 
inhabits, the Tibetan polecat probably, however, dwells among rocks and stones; 
while the Sarmatian species generally resides in the deserted burrows of other 
animals. 
The common polecat, whose habits will in the main serve to illustrate those 
of the other species, is chiefly a nocturnal animal, lying concealed during the day 
in woods, in fox or rabbit holes, woodstacks, or among rocks, and issuing forth at 
evening for its devastations. In winter it frequently seeks shelter in old farm- 
buildings or outhouses. It is far less arboreal in its habits than the martens, and 
is also less active in its ways. The polecat is a deadly enemy to hares, rabbits, 
and partridges, and equally destructive to all kinds of domestic poultry, from the 
pigeon to the turkey; while in addition to the smaller mammals and birds, it will 
consume eggs, lizards, snakes, and frogs. It is stated on good authority that it 
always carries away its food to its lair; this would be obviously impossible with 
such large birds as geese and turkeys, which are, perhaps, merely killed for that 
insatiable thirst for blood, which is its characteristic. Indeed, wherever a polecat 
gains access to a poultry-house, the owner will be pretty sure to find the majority 
of the occupants lying dead in the morning. The polecat is, moreover, a no less 
deadly enemy to the game preserver; the authors of Bell’s British Quadrupeds 
remarking that “ the destruction which it occasions among the eggs and young of 
pheasants and partridges, young hares and rabbits, is incalculable; and, in the 
latter case particularly, it follows these animals into their burrows with such 
facility that a single family of polecats would shortly produce a sensible 
diminution in numbers amongst the denizens of a whole warren.” 
Fortunately, however, of late years its numbers have been vastly diminished, 
and it is now chiefly confined to regions with thick woods affording it compara¬ 
tively inaccessible retreats. In the Alps it wanders in summer far above the 
limit of trees, although retreating to lower elevations in winter. The nest of 
the polecat is made in a deserted rabbit-hole, in the crevices of rocks, or amongst 
heaps of stones overgrown with brushwood or weeds; and here the young are born 
in the months of April and May, or, more rarely, the beginning of June. The 
number in a litter may vary from three to eight, although it is more usual to find 
four, five, or six. When captured early, the young may be easily trained for the 
purpose of rabbit-catching. Fossil remains of the polecat, like those of the weasel 
and the stoat, have been obtained from the cavern-deposits of this country and 
the continent, in association with the bones of extinct mammals. 
