Pole is an animal of the category who are part of the Kunih family.
- External differences
- Mustela eversmanni
- Mustela putorius
- Mustela nigripes
- Mustela putorius furo
Pole
External differences
In the wild, there are 3 main species of polecat living on Eurasian territory and in the regions of North America, two of which are the Forest, or Forest Black polecat (Mustela putorius) and Stepnoy, or Amursky Stepnoy Polecat (Mustela eversmanii) – live in Russia.
More than 2,000 years ago, domesticated albino-type polecat was the first to live as a pet instead of a cat in the houses of Southern Europe, since he was distinguished by a non-aggressive disposition calm character.
The general descriptive characteristic of all trochees includes distinctive features:
- the body of the animals is elongated, flexible, with a neatly folded oval head and a slightly elongated muzzle;
- short legs are disproportionate to the body, which gives the body a squat, muscular, which helps the animal move by jumping;
- the toes are equipped with long claws that allow you to crawl through trees and dig deep minks.
in length itself Wild ferrets grow up to half a meter. Females are slightly smaller in size, reaching a length of up to 0.4 m. Each species of chorea has its own weight indicators, their weight can range from 0.3 to 2.0 kg. The trunk ends with a fluffy tail, which can be up to 18 cm long.
The fur coat of wild ferrets is formed by the underfoot, thick and soft to the touch, and the remaining hairs, which are noticeably lighter in color at the very base and dark closer to the ends.
Autumn molt changes summer fur for winter, which externally makes the wild ferret even more spectacular.
Depending on the species, the color of wild ferrets varies. They can be from sand, light tones to completely white or almost black. Another specific feature of the ferrets’ appearance, which immediately catches your eye, is their facial ornament that looks like a mask.
As a protective repellent mechanism, wild ferrets use a secret produced by special glands with a sharp pungent odor.
Of the sensory organs of wild trochees, the most developed sense of smell is that helps the animal to hunt. For hunting, teeth are also of no small importance: there are 28-30 of them in the animal.
In the natural environment, the polecat lives 3-4 years, when at home keeping its life expectancy increases to 5-7 years.
Mustela eversmanni
The steppe light ferret can be seen in European regions, including the Czech Republic, eastern Austria, southern Slovakia, Ukraine and Hungary, and northern Bulgaria and Poland.The semi-deserts and forest-steppes of the Middle and Central Asian region, as well as the area of Russia from its European regions to the Far Eastern borders, closer to China, is also the habitat of the steppe ferret.
Among the distinctive features of the appearance of the steppe ferret, its description includes:
- the length of the body from 0.52 to 0.56 cm with a weight of 2 kg,
- tail up to 18 cm,
- rare coloring of the top hair brown shade with darker ends on the tail and legs.
Females of the steppe ferret bring up to 10 or more cubs, differing from others GIH animals litter.
only subspecies Steppe polecat light is Amur Steppe ferret that grows to a length of 0.5 m weighing no more than 2 kg. The ferret stands out in the photo with its white-yellow color, due to which it looks unusual. The area of the Amur steppe ferret occupies the north-eastern Chinese area and the Amur steppes.
The main components of the diet of the Steppe trochees are small rodents such as ground squirrels and hamsters, less amphibians and small birds. In winter, a varied diet is reduced to simple voles that occur in the steppes. In cold weather, animals are often content with waste and carrion near human places of residence. When spring comes, they pick up fish in the river spills.
Mustela putorius
Forest black ferrets can be met throughout Eurasia, especially in the West European and European parts of Russia. Its preferred habitats are groves and forests. Hunting Forest polecat on open forest edges, for which he was nicknamed the forest predator.
The wild forest black polecat is slightly smaller in size than its steppe relative. It grows in length from 0.36 to 0.48 m, gaining a mass of not more than 1.5 kg. In this case, the female black ferret is noticeably smaller in size: 1.5 times. The furry tail of the forest animal is up to 17 cm long.
The main color of the forest polecat is black, from where it got its second name. However, the population of this species may also include red and pure-white individuals.
The forest polecat differs from the steppe in the absence of contrast between the color of the trunk and paws. Like other ferrets, the forest animal has a characteristic facial mask.
The female forest polecat cannot boast of the fecundity inherent in the steppe. The brood usually numbers no more than 6 cubs.
The nutritional diet is not much different from that used by the steppe ferret. Among the main prey are rodents, toads, large insects such as grasshoppers and locusts, a small bird and its eggs. Being close to human habitation, the forest ferret is often found in the chicken coop, where it hunts poultry and rabbit.
