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1 for Madfossa

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Liz Heard View Drop Down
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    Posted: 28 Mar 2012 at 7:04pm
hello mate (and everyone else)

judging by your recent billy badger story (and username?) im guessing mammals are a big passion for you too.
sorry its a stiff but heres an animal thats hard to see and still absent from many areas. got em your way yet? are you in Essex or Bux?

RTA male Polecat. im no expert but judging by the "mask" and white eartips, i think its a true Polie not a Polecat-Ferret.
Noodles?

The Trumpet. Herefordshire - a long-time stronghold for the species;





PS Mr Pot Noodles promised members some Polecat pup pix awhile back but we've still not been served.
maybe we need to add more water to him?



all the best!

Edited by ben rigsby - 28 Mar 2012 at 7:37pm
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Madfossa View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Madfossa Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Mar 2012 at 9:17pm
Cheers for that Ben

My name is Ian, the madfossa is from way back at Newquay zoo..... a short but boring story :-)

Polecat or polecat ferret, hmmmm its a similar conundrum to the Scottish wildcat v feral cat???
You are certainly in the right area for polecats (i'm in Essex). The only method i've heard of for telling them apart is to measure the post orbital region of the skull. If its 16mm or more = polecat, under 16 mm ferret assuming its an adult. Though thats not conclusive !
Best bet is to bag it and send to the Vincent wildlife trust, best to phone them 1st thoughWink
Im sure they'll help.
I used to spend alot of time picking up rta badgers in Bucks.
Polecats are being reported in Essex but we also have alot of mink so there maybe some confusion. I was involved in setting a mink raft the other day on a local river, to determine the presence of mink using a clay pad to catch any paw prints. All part of the EWT water vole scheme :)
hope that helps. 
I also had a polecat ferret as a pet, though my fox aided its escape...though thats another story....
Ian
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Liz Heard View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Liz Heard Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Mar 2012 at 11:12pm
Originally posted by Madfossa Madfossa wrote:

Cheers for that Ben

My name is Ian, the madfossa is from way back at Newquay zoo..... a short but boring story :-)

Best bet is to bag it and send to the Vincent wildlife trust, best to phone them 1st thoughWink
Im sure they'll help.
I used to spend alot of time picking up rta badgers in Bucks.
[


Hi Ian.
glad you joined - you obviously have much to offer us.
inc mebbe a few interesting zoo anecdotes?


so your name is nothing to do with the playfulness of the Madagascan Foo-sah (as i thought) then?

yes, i phoned VWT when i spotted the 'cat.
they werent interested in me bringing (or them collecting) the body.
but they took, and hopefully passed on, my sighting record.

well done for picking up the Mm RTAs previously. i assume they were delivered to VLA for PM rather than binned at the tip - a la local council?
i used to collect them too - but only in emergencies.
EG a fieldwork drought!
LOL

best wishes,
ben
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Madfossa View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Madfossa Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Mar 2012 at 11:45pm
Cheers Ben, thanks for the welcome.
I hope i can offer something useful :) I am very keen.

unfortunately there'll be no zoo anecdotes as it was a visit to newquay uni/college and the zoo where i was surprised to see a fossa or foo-sah, (you were correct), just something my son said as the fossa was exhibiting steroetypical behaviour (pacing) and food anticipation... told you it was boringWink, but personal to me....... anyway.. moving on.... but my home has been a bit of a zoo on occasions :)
I was sure VWT had a guy in scotland at NH museum that was in need of polecat carcasses( not Burke and Hare) was awhile ago though :)
A few of the badger rtas were taken away for PM but most were just sexed, measured, weighed if poss and location noted, then moved to somewhere out of sight....this was yrs ago back in the late 80's
lots of badger anecdotes though ;) and fox ones
its great to see people on here who are passionate and knowledgeable 
i hope to bore the lot of you with  questions

Ian

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Noodles Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Apr 2012 at 12:36pm
Looks like a wildie by the markings (don't forget the very rare Mink/Polecat hybrid too!). I think many of the animals with a westerly distribution are supposed to be true breeds.

I (think I) read somewhere that the Polecat/Ferret hybrid cannot breed successfully with a true Polecat (and possibly also a Polecat/Ferret cannot breed over successive generations?). The hybrid progeny is therefore a dead end in evolutionary terms. This means that the true Polecat has the upper hand (unusually) and should persist; which is good news. Their range was expanding very successfully the last time i checked (about 5yrs ago).

P.S. Those pup pics are almost certainly lost i'm afraid and no amount of water is gonna change that, so stop pining for them LOL

And keep posting Madfossa, or as my brain keeps telling me Mustafa! 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote will Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Apr 2012 at 6:32pm
Back in 2008 I was travelling from Gloucestershire through Oxfordshire back home to Hertfordshire.  I found three road killed polecats in each county on the same journey - weird..  Photos of Gloucs and Oxon animals below.  I guess Essex polecats are a distinct possibility as they regain lost ground.




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Madfossa View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Madfossa Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Apr 2012 at 11:49pm
Such a shame, beautiful animals.

There are 2 distinct  mitochondrial haplotypes in Britain, the Welsh Border stronghold and those from the North, South and East of Britain. The Welsh population is the purebred, the rest of the population is almost certainly feral ferrets. There is known to be hybridisation between the two, as the population increases, pure male polecats move N E and S and mate with feral ferrets.

As long as they look like polecats, does it matter to anyone but polecat fans??
Just asking Wink
The same hybridisation problem has occurred in Wolves and our own Scot Wildcat. For the S Wildcat there was a pelagic test derived that gave scores on pelagic markings as proof of purebred wildcat, but i believe this was then retested using DNA finger printing and many thought to have been purebred were infact feral hybridsConfused
Then once we know we have hybridisation do we afford the same protection to the hybrids to preserve the DNA, thats what our Biodiversity agreement includes.???
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