Wild Polecats

[foxtails 272]

i think foxtails post was aimed at me,your entitled to your opinion and if you read my post i did say i will not do it again and i definatly wouldnt attempt it with an adult,

 

ideation my 1stxs were big but selectivly breeding smallest hob to smallest jill the size came down they are muscular and strong but not any bigger than a fert now they arent everybodys cup of tea but i like there work style and the look all mine handle well now, some of this line are in south wales area and a good few boys from that area have been out with them

apoligees mate should of read your post properly,

[Malt 379]

 

i live by an oldchurch earl one morning as i drove by i saw a wildpolecat running with a kit in her mouth across the cemetary i stoped the landy jumped out hoped over the wall as she saw me and legged it she droped it as i grabbed it in my sleeve she made a grab at my sleeve then took off,i kept the kit hand fed it for days as it got used to me it got verybold and got to the point of leaping atme,unerving to say the least by the time it was 12mnths you couldnt get near it hissing stinking trembling snot on the nose,i took a risk and put a jill inseason with him,i thought he was killing her,when i took her out her kneck was in a terrible state,cut a long story short it was 5generations of selective breeding before they could be handled safely the 1s i work out of that line are the fastest ferrets iv ever owned if it doesnt come out in 10mins they kill,these creatures are definatly not for the novice.

we have allways had them around my area the keepers used to hang them on the fences not unusual to see 4 or 5 hanging

 

i remember being in a hurry 1night trying to fed ferts quickly i got careless the polecat leapt up on the hutch grabbed my finger tip through the nail and locked on i had to bash the lid on his head to get him off what a bite that was iv been bitten by ferts they were scratches compared to that make no mistake.

in all honesty i wouldnt do it again he was never happy caged i allways felt guilty seeing the fella going round and round,you can take the polecat out of the wild but you cant take the wild out of the polecat

 

nice that...taking a kit off its mother, if it was abandonded then I can see why, but I don't see the point of doing that, I don't think you could ever properly tame a wild polecat to use for working or breeding

He ain't the first person to do it, and probably won't be the last.. Most domesticated animals were first captured as wild animals and then selectively bred to make them more suitable to be used/managed by humans, where do you think ferrets came from in the first place? He said he wouldn't do it again so IMO there was no need for the dig at the start of your reply..

[foxtails 272]

 

 

i live by an oldchurch earl one morning as i drove by i saw a wildpolecat running with a kit in her mouth across the cemetary i stoped the landy jumped out hoped over the wall as she saw me and legged it she droped it as i grabbed it in my sleeve she made a grab at my sleeve then took off,i kept the kit hand fed it for days as it got used to me it got verybold and got to the point of leaping atme,unerving to say the least by the time it was 12mnths you couldnt get near it hissing stinking trembling snot on the nose,i took a risk and put a jill inseason with him,i thought he was killing her,when i took her out her kneck was in a terrible state,cut a long story short it was 5generations of selective breeding before they could be handled safely the 1s i work out of that line are the fastest ferrets iv ever owned if it doesnt come out in 10mins they kill,these creatures are definatly not for the novice.

we have allways had them around my area the keepers used to hang them on the fences not unusual to see 4 or 5 hanging

 

i remember being in a hurry 1night trying to fed ferts quickly i got careless the polecat leapt up on the hutch grabbed my finger tip through the nail and locked on i had to bash the lid on his head to get him off what a bite that was iv been bitten by ferts they were scratches compared to that make no mistake.

in all honesty i wouldnt do it again he was never happy caged i allways felt guilty seeing the fella going round and round,you can take the polecat out of the wild but you cant take the wild out of the polecat

nice that...taking a kit off its mother, if it was abandonded then I can see why, but I don't see the point of doing that, I don't think you could ever properly tame a wild polecat to use for working or breeding

He ain't the first person to do it, and probably won't be the last.. Most domesticated animals were first captured as wild animals and then selectively bred to make them more suitable to be used/managed by humans, where do you think ferrets came from in the first place? He said he wouldn't do it again so IMO there was no need for the dig at the start of your reply..

 

yep I relise that now, as I said I didn't read t properly, I was more concentrating on other things he said, so have appoligised .................. .............

[rob190364 2,594]

i think foxtails post was aimed at me,your entitled to your opinion and if you read my post i did say i will not do it again and i definatly wouldnt attempt it with an adult,

 

ideation my 1stxs were big but selectivly breeding smallest hob to smallest jill the size came down they are muscular and strong but not any bigger than a fert now they arent everybodys cup of tea but i like there work style and the look all mine handle well now, some of this line are in south wales area and a good few boys from that area have been out with them

 

How do they work differently to ferrets pal? What is it you like about their style?

[Malt 379]

 

i think foxtails post was aimed at me,your entitled to your opinion and if you read my post i did say i will not do it again and i definatly wouldnt attempt it with an adult,

 

ideation my 1stxs were big but selectivly breeding smallest hob to smallest jill the size came down they are muscular and strong but not any bigger than a fert now they arent everybodys cup of tea but i like there work style and the look all mine handle well now, some of this line are in south wales area and a good few boys from that area have been out with them

How do they work differently to ferrets pal? What is it you like about their style?

I can't honestly see how people can say they work differently, all they have to do is go down a hole and bolt/kill a rabbit.. I think some folk have never seen a really good, normal ferret bred from good working stock go about its business with some of the comments on here sometimes..

[rob190364 2,594]

The only reason I ask is because the differences I've heard of are mostly negative...i.e. More kills/digs, shy coming out of the hole etc. IMO a good ferret does what is needed perfectly, so I struggle to understand how something that must do the job less well would be preferable....unless somehow the do the job better....I'm interested to here how and what.

 

I can see where a micro ferret would have its uses where a normal sized ferret might cause problems (i.e.under buildings/rock piles etc) but struggling to see a situation where a polecat would give any advantage over a ferret.

[Bossie 90]

I've replied before to other (wild) polecat threads. I've worked (and work) normal working ferrets and several polecat crosses with varying degree of polecat in them.

The polecats are a bit more muscular in the first cross. They work in a more frantic fashion compared to a normal ferret, they work a lot faster compared to a normal ferret. They do like to kill. Overall just frantic and fast.

 

I don't rate them highly. The first cross is usually pretty much shit and only usefull as breeding stock. Wouldn't work them. Pain with other ferrets as well.

 

The 1/4 polecat can be worked and you can have some nice ones in a litter. However they can be a bit frantic and unreliable. In my opinion if judged properly and worked you will have some wastage in a litter due to them not being reliable and not being as tame as a normal ferret would be.

 

The 1/8 cross can be worked and is in my experience probably the way to go if you insist on using a polecat cross.

 

The 1/16 cross defeats the purpose if you ask me. If you'd like to breed some workable polecats I think using the 1/4 and 1/8 cross is best. You'd have to judge them very strictly on their character since even the 1/4 can be unreliable.

 

Others might think differently and like them a lot. I don't think they are that much better than a normal working bred ferret (which is what some people seem to think). A hunting/ferreting friend works polecat crosses a lot. He does dig quite often, if that's because of his polecat cross or something else......

 

Maybe they would be handy on rats?

 

I mainly just work normal ferrets myself which I rarely have to dig to. I currently have a 1/4 polecat jil in my ferret court. Unreliable little thing, don't like her so far.

Have a 1/8 polecat hob as well which is very nice and is being worked and will be used in breeding, but not because he's a polecat cross. But because he actually works and is nice to handle.

[GreyRake 108]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dG8Mi7yLmiE

[The one 8,482]

That ones still got a fair amount of white on its face the few ive seen where all dark , but fancy putting your hand in to pull out a rabbit with something like that there , be a braver man than me

[cookiemonsterandmerlin 145]

 

Aye I had a wild one for few months, i was rehabilitating, unhandleable, untameable .... Stood out from regular ferrets by its size, muscle tone and speed. Eventually it ripped its way out of the cage and escaped. I'm pretty sure it would have killed any Jill I tried to mate it with. It only ate flesh, it only came out at night.

 

 

So basically ,, it was Scottish ?

 

Nah he didnt say it was ginger