Pole cat

[piratelassie]

My neighbour saw a pole cat the other day, I am concerned for my hens.Has anyone else seen any in Caithness ?

[sprint95m]

Suspect it was a polecat ferret that your neighbour saw.
These are common in east Caithness judging by the number of road kills.

[Backlass]

There have been a few sightings, but it's quite possible some could be true polecats rather than polecat-ferrets. The Vincent Weildlife Trust are interested in any records, see http://www.vwt.org.uk/species/polecat.php

[topotheuk]

a few years ago one got into my rabbit's hutch and burrowed it's way inside and ate it's way out. Not a very nice death for my rabbit it then stayed around our house for a few days, so I'd say watch out for your wee chooks

[george1234]

i had one last winter half killed 7 hens i had to humanly kill the hens as they were in a bad shape, we were on the lookout for it the next few nights and one night i got 2 collie pups in a pen outside, h heard screaming from the rodent and my dog had actually killed and eaten it... good dog i say it got what was coming... beware of them its not a pretty sight when u go into ur chicken shed.. these work at nights mine was at 3am.... im in latheron

[Geo]

I reported sightings to the trust mentioned above a few years ago as there seemed to be a population boom, then it died back again. If anyone does see a dead one on the roadside the trust is keen to have them for DNA testing to see if there are any pure polecats here. The live ones I have seen certainly have the correct markings.

[nirofo]

Sounds more like a Mink or a Ferret to me, wild Polecats are nearly all, if not all based in Wales. Could be a Pine Marten, there's plenty of them in the north of Scotland.

nirofo.

[Geo]

The ones I saw were definitely not mink or pine martins. The size was right and they had the classic polecat markings. They can breed with ferrets though so may be a mixture. The trust lists Caithness as having a population of polecats and or polecat/ferret crosses.

[northener]

Lots of Poleys up here, whether they're purebred or crosses with domestic polecats I couldn't say. But there's a hell of a lot of them.

Last winter I had to despatch one I saw in the snow at Freswick - it had been clipped by a car and it's back legs were gone. It was absolutely huge, far bigger than any domestic ferret that I've ever owned.

BTW, George, they're not rodents mate they're carnivores. They're of the family Mustelidae which includes stoats, weasels, otters and badgers.

[puppygirl]

Search on the internet some websites may tell you how to keep them away
i used to hav a indoor one they never harmed none of my other pets
but wild ones do kill animals/pets

[Better Out Than In]

Just a few hints. They mostly hunt at night so free ranging hens may be OK if locked up at night - as long as day foxes don't get them. To help stop them getting into your compound rather than gigging the chicken wire into the ground try laying it flat for 1/2m or so outwards around compound. This seems to stop them from digging under the fence.