Polecat

I've been meaning to check this since Derek posted the picture, but didn't find time to check an article I'd seen recently. Anyway, I found the article this morning - British Wildlife April 2009 - and one of the things they mention for confirming that it's a true polecat is a dark nose - polecat-ferrets often have pink noses. Derek's photograph shows a dark nosed animal. All the colours in the fur (dark tips, pale underfur), and the masked face, are typical of a polecat. A generally pale animal would suggest a polecat-ferret.

As for the distribution in Pembrokeshire - look at
http://pembsmammals.blogspot.com/2009/03/polecat.html which shows records up to the end of 2008.

Records of all mammals, reptiles and amphibians in the county are gratefully received. Just drop me an email, or use the comment facility for each species on the mammal blog. I just need your name, the species, where it was (preferably with a grid reference) and what it was doing (eg dead, live, tracks, feeding, with youngsters) and a date. I will update the maps in the autumn/winter whenever I find time.