# Could a Polecat / Ferret hybridise with a Badger?



## ophidianman (Sep 5, 2008)

A strange question possibly but here's my reason for asking.......About 5 miles from where I live there is a stretch of country lane where there must be a colony of escaped Polecat Ferrets thriving. I frequently see them running along the side of the road. Once I stopped and helped to free one that had got its head stuck in a slatted drain cover.

About a year ago coming home from a gig after dark I went round a corner and was confronted by a HUGE light coloured (probably albino but I couldn't see the eyes) Ferret. When I say huge I mean it was massive. It stood its ground for a few seconds (probably dazzled by the headlights) then went to the side of the road and ran along for a short distance before disappearing into the hedge. It ran along with the typical gait of a norman sized Ferret. I've kept and bred Polecat Ferrets in the past so know how big they are / can get. I'm also aware that Hobs are generally much bigger than Jills. This specimen was easily twice the size of any that I have ever seen before. I was alone in the car so had no witness to back me up.

Sunday night I was coming back from a gig with a Lady friend when approx 50 yds ahead what we thought was a young Badger came out of the hedge on the left and ambled across the road. I slowed down and it stayed on the edge of the hedgerow on my side firkling around on the side of the road. As I got closer I could see it wasn't a badger, the fur was too dark and it wasn't the right shape. I said to Dee (excitedly) 'It's a giant Polecat'. 'No way' says she 'it's far too bloody big to be a Polecat'. We got to about 10 feet away from it and it stopped. We didn't see its face (head was down snuffling / sniffing around) but as it went into the hedge we could both clearly see the shape and colour and more importantly a long and extremely bushy tail. Also what I / we saw wasn't a Skunk, wrong body shape (ish), it was too elongated.

Badgers and Ferrets / Polecats are members of the same family Mustelidae so does anyone think this is possible or can shed any light on what I / we saw?

I know it was dark but both of these sightings were whilst driving and within 500yds of each other and seen in headlights


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## miss_ferret (Feb 4, 2010)

im no genetics expert so i could be (and prob am) wrong, but theoreticly yes. in lab conditions, AI and so on. but in the wild? i would say no way. i doubt a badger would let a ferret/polecat get close enough to mate without killing it.

id say you saw a mink or a pine marten personally. both of them look ferret like and get to impressive sizes. pine martens especially sound like they would fit your discription


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## Jamiioo (May 8, 2010)

Aren't Pine Martins somewhat rare though?

I have only ever heard of them really habituating in Nature reserves and isolated areas of woodland & dense forest etc etc

"Range - Pine marten

Found throughout most of central and northern Europe (4). In the UK, the pine marten is restricted to the Scottish Highlands and Grampian, and a few populations occur in southern Scotland. The pine marten is extinct throughout most of England and Wales (2) with a few scattered records in the north and in Wales"

Taken from: http://www.arkive.org/pine-marten/martes-martes/#text=Range


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## miss_ferret (Feb 4, 2010)

yeah quite rare in the wild (not sure what there current status is) but it was the first thing that came to mind, especially when the OP mentioned the tail. you do get them in england occasionally (escaping from wildlife parks and so on) but scotland is there main habitat.

i also though mink could be a possibility but im not sure whether european or american varieties reach the size required?


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## ophidianman (Sep 5, 2008)

miss_ferret said:


> im no genetics expert so i could be (and prob am) wrong, but theoreticly yes. in lab conditions, AI and so on. but in the wild? i would say no way. i doubt a badger would let a ferret/polecat get close enough to mate without killing it.
> 
> id say you saw a mink or a pine marten personally. both of them look ferret like and get to impressive sizes. pine martens especially sound like they would fit your discription
> image


Thanks for your reply Missy Ferret but it certainly wasn't a Mink and we're too far away for it to have been a Pine Marten. I'm not exaggerating, whatever these were they were much much bigger than either of those. More of a Skunk size (but bigger) and also not the right shape. Fur not as long and the tail wasn't as bushy or as 'wide' as a Skunks.

I can almost hear people saying 'Oh yeah it's the fishermans tale....It was this big, honest', or 'I've seen a Panther' and it's a big Moggy.


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

We have pine martens in Northumberland too.

They're about the size of a cat.


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## gazz (Dec 9, 2006)

*Raccoon ?.*


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## Devi (Jan 9, 2011)

There is quite a few isolated populations of pine martens and the like throughout the country. Certain areas now claim populations of raccoons too. There are other animals wild in small areas but they're beside the point.
But as far as cross breeding, if it is possible then I see no reason why it couldn't happen in the wild in exceptional circumstance, for example in America they often have wolves or coyotes, but cross breeding with domestic dogs is rare due to the pack nature of both animals, however cases are documented where a dog integrates a pack or a lone animal finds its way to a domestic dog.
Just because it's unlikely doesn't mean it can't happen.
(However I don't know the genetics involved so I can't comment on that bit)


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## 9Red (May 30, 2008)

Some kind of otter?


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## em_40 (Sep 29, 2010)

Apparenly the Russians have 'Giant ferrets', perhaps an imported escaped pet? 
Don't know how they were made though. 


or I'd go with pine marten, reckon it's more likely than a hybrid.


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## barrylurcher (Mar 13, 2011)

otter maybe


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## barrylurcher (Mar 13, 2011)

ophidianman said:


> A strange question possibly but here's my reason for asking.......About 5 miles from where I live there is a stretch of country lane where there must be a colony of escaped Polecat Ferrets thriving. I frequently see them running along the side of the road. Once I stopped and helped to free one that had got its head stuck in a slatted drain cover.
> 
> About a year ago coming home from a gig after dark I went round a corner and was confronted by a HUGE light coloured (probably albino but I couldn't see the eyes) Ferret. When I say huge I mean it was massive. It stood its ground for a few seconds (probably dazzled by the headlights) then went to the side of the road and ran along for a short distance before disappearing into the hedge. It ran along with the typical gait of a norman sized Ferret. I've kept and bred Polecat Ferrets in the past so know how big they are / can get. I'm also aware that Hobs are generally much bigger than Jills. This specimen was easily twice the size of any that I have ever seen before. I was alone in the car so had no witness to back me up.
> 
> ...


no way could it badger would kill it straight away wat you saw was most certainly an otter


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## Doogerie (Jul 6, 2007)

maybe just maybe (and this is a long shot) you have seen a new spices of Ferret or polecat (i did say it was along shot) you never know if i were you i would take a camera with you in the car at all times and next time you see one try and get a picture of it someone here might be able to ID it for you.


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## saxon (Feb 26, 2007)

If it were dark it could have been a wild cat or hybrid wildcat.
We have those on the moors up here.


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## saxon (Feb 26, 2007)

If people keep these in the u I suppose it oculd be an escapee!

Burmese Ferret-badger - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

There are apparantly a few different species of 'ferret badger' so it's a possibilty.


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## em_40 (Sep 29, 2010)

I noticed those too but they are all about the size of a normal ferret I think.

The khonorik (mink-ferret hybrid- or 'black ferret') is said to be bigger than your average ferret.

ETA: These apparently are often kept as pets http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tayra they are like big ferrets


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## saxon (Feb 26, 2007)

Just looked at those I would love one.
I bet they cost a canny penny though!

The ferret-badgers are about 27 inches long, over 2 foot long, which is a bit bigger than your average ferret I think though so if people did keep them it could be a possibility


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## gazz (Dec 9, 2006)

*What about a Black colored Red fox ?.*


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## ophidianman (Sep 5, 2008)

Many thanks for all of the replies and ideas on what I / we saw.

Rocky Raccoon. No, wrong shape and the tail wasn't banded (the one we saw on Sunday).

Otter. Well this suggestion got me googling but I couldn't find any pics of Otters with dry fur. The white coloured one I saw last year no way as I saw the head clearly and it was far too pointed to be an Otter. The one on Sunday we didn't get a clear look at the head so pass. The fur was 'fluffy', like when you're play fighting with a Ferret and it's puffed up (if that makes sense)?

Russian Giant Ferrets. Hmm interesting. I've had a look around but can't find any info. Anybody? Having been nailed by a few 'standard' sized Ferrets I wouldn't want a 'Giant Russian' hanging off my hand!

Wildcat or Wildcat hybrid. No as the legs were Badger / Ferret size. The body was close to the ground / at ground level, legs not easily discernable.

'Doogerie'. I've always got my TZ10 with me but both of these sightings have been short and by the time I'd got the camera out and fired up it would be too late. I've taken video clips at night along the lanes and they don't come out very well. I will have to have the camera running ready to try in the future.

Ferret Badgers. New one on me. Right sort of tail and shape but the one we saw on Sunday was much plumper unless its fur was puffed up?

Tayras. Heh never heard of them before either but too small.

Melanistic Fox. That's one gorgeous looking 'morph', more of a Badger dark grey with jet black legs n ears. Nice. There are lots of Reynards where I live (in the sticks) and I see them frequently. Far too long in the leg to be what I saw. I'd love to see a Black Fox if it looks like that in real life.

These sightings were on the Milborne St Andrew to Milton Abbas road around the junction to and along the road to Ansty. DT10

Yesterday I stopped on the way home and spoke with this Gentleman and his Wife. 
BBC - Dorset - People - Fattening the geese

Raising Geese and being at the centre of 'Giant Ferret' land I thought a chat was in order, and very interesting it was too! 

Neither of them had see any 'Giants' but they had seen several normal sized ones. Mostly road kill but a couple live too. Asked about Otters too and both said no. There is a small stream running through the valley and a pond on their land but no fish (apart from tiddlers). Apparently there are Otters on a Lake (Dewlish possibly I didn't write it down) 3 miles away. There is a big lake in the Milton Abbey grounds approx a mile away so the jury is still out on an Otter! Does anyone have a link to pics of a dry Otter? 

Yawn.....Goodnight.


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## Devi (Jan 9, 2011)

Dry Otter


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## freekygeeky (May 25, 2007)




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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

Otters certainly don't have bushy tails like you describe, but their tails are pretty fat, so in the dark could look as if it was bushy.


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## 2manydogs (Oct 23, 2007)

ophidianman said:


> Many thanks for all of the replies and ideas on what I / we saw.
> 
> Rocky Raccoon. No, wrong shape and the tail wasn't banded (the one we saw on Sunday).
> 
> ...


Hi did you ever come to a conclusion on this? Just curious as I grew up in milborne :lol2:


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## mrcriss (Nov 2, 2010)

ophidianman said:


> Tayras. Heh never heard of them before either but too small.
> 
> .


Tayras aren't small at all..…they're one of the bigger mustelids. There aren't many in this country though.


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## x Sarah x (Nov 16, 2007)

Big ferret?


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## mrcriss (Nov 2, 2010)

x Sarah x said:


> Big ferret?
> 
> [URL=http://i906.photobucket.com/albums/ac268/felix5889/meh/Meh%202/BIGferretewt_zpsdf370285.jpg]image[/URL]
> 
> ...


Bloody 'ell!:gasp::gasp::gasp:


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## x Sarah x (Nov 16, 2007)

They are totally real too and right about now intact ferrets are at their biggest and fluffiest so makes sense


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## x Sarah x (Nov 16, 2007)

Or maybe :lol2:


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## Rogue665 (Mar 17, 2010)

The size i'v seen some ferrets get too is ridiculously huge im talking 22-23 inch long from snot to tail.
bigger than cats and could even take a few cats on.
I say you saw a ferret, although no one can know, Dash cam time i think: victory:


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