Talk:European Polecat
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[edit] Odor?
Can European polecats spray an odor, like skunks?
- Given that domestic ferrets can, I'd be surprised if their European ancestors couldn't. Note, though, that ferrets cannot spray their musk very far, and unlike that of the skunk, the odour dissipates within a few minutes. Psychonaut 17:07, 3 Apr 2005 (UTC)
- It's definitely noticable though, if you've been on the smelly end, and indoors.
Yes, all mustelids can, though the effectiveness on a predator varies. Some don't use their musk in defense, only for communication.61.230.79.242 04:19, 24 June 2006 (UTC)
Their name in French is putois, which more or less means "the one who stinks". I cartoons, skunk is generally translated as putois. I think it is pretty self explenatory. --Arskoul 07:03, 30 January 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Ancestry
I am going to take out the line referring to the Berber polecat (M.p. berberii) as being a debated ancestor of M.p. furo. While I acknowledge this information can be obscure, there is no reference provided and when I conducted a search through Google, Google Scholar, Ebsco, ScienceDirect and Web of Science I could find no reference to the Berber polecat being an identified species, let alone a debated ancestor of the ferret. The only place I could find reference to the Berber polecat was on web pages that were citing this wiki article. If someone has a reference proving the existence of the Berber polecat and it's relation to the ferret, that would be great and we can add the Berber back in. wagors 16:54, 15 April 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Photo
From the Danish description of this image, these are polecats at a zoo in Denmark (despite the English description "ferrets"). Here is a page from the zoo in question showing the polecat. --Cam 16:02, 12 May 2006 (UTC)
[edit] They aren't skunks
- I thought a polecat was a slang word for a skunk, I remember one episode of Garfield and Friends where they went to a dude ranch called Polecat Ranch or something and Garfield or John or somebody didn't know what a polecat was and than a skunk showed up and everybody freaked out.
