Polecat–ferret hybrid

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Polecat–ferret hybrid
First-generation, eight-week-old polecat–ferret hybrids
First-generation, eight-week-old polecat–ferret hybrids
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Mustelidae
Subfamily: Mustelinae
Genus: Mustela
Species:
M. putorius × M. furo
Heads of a 1) polecat, 2) ferret and 3) polecat–ferret hybrid

A polecat–ferret hybrid is a hybrid between a wild European polecat (Mustela putorius) and a domesticated ferret (Mustela furo). Offspring of such a cross between the two animals typically have a distinct white throat patch, white feet and white hairs interspersed among the fur.[1] It is currently impossible to distinguish pure polecats from hybrids through DNA analysis, as the two forms are too closely related and inter-mixed to be separated through current (2010) genetic methods.[2]

The advantages of polecat–ferret hybrids over

socialisation period between 7+1⁄2 and 8+1⁄2 weeks of age.[4]

In some parts of Britain, the escape of domesticated ferrets has led to ferret–polecat hybridisation in the wild. Ferrets were likely first brought to Britain after the

Norman conquest of England (in the 11th century) or as late as the 14th century.[5] John George Wood wrote in 1870 that polecat–ferrets were sometimes used by hunters alongside pure ferrets.[6]
In modern times, alleged ferret–polecat hybrids are occasionally advertised as superior to pure ferrets for the purposes of rabbiting, though actual hybrids are very likely to be less handleable, less willing to familiarise themselves with dogs, and more likely to kill their quarry outright rather than simply flush it from its burrow.[7]

See also

References

  1. ISBN 978-0-906282-65-6
    .
  2. ^ "Polecat FAQs" (PDF). Vincent Wildlife Trust. 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 April 2012.
  3. ISBN 978-0-470-13943-1
    .
  4. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7998.1972.tb04073.x
    .
  5. doi:10.1016/s0006-3207(98)00067-6. Archived from the original
    (PDF) on 27 July 2011.
  6. ^ Wood, John George (1870). Wood's Animal Kingdom.
  7. ISBN 978-0-9533648-8-6
    .


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