Polecat found near Buerton

A dead polecat was found on the Woore road near Buerton on Friday. It was nearly two feet long nose to tail tip. This adds significantly to other sightings recently in the Audlem area.

In Britain, the polecat was regarded as a serious poultry predator prior to the introduction of wire netting. Until then, eliminating it was considered the only option to protect stock. 

The polecat is found throughout most of rural Wales and in England from Cheshire south to Avon, and east to Leicestershire and Northamptonshire. The species was reintroduced into Cumbria and parts of Scotland during the 1970s and 1980s.

Apart from the reintroductions, the recovery of British polecat numbers has been helped by an increase in rabbit populations and a lessening of persecution by gamekeepers. Its population has been considered viable since the mid-1990s.

The polecat is afforded both national and European protection; it is listed on Schedule 6 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.

This article is from our news archive. As a result pictures or videos originally associated with it may have been removed and some of the content may no longer be accurate or relevant.