For most of us, our only encounters with British mammals are spotting them on the roadside as we hurtle past at 55mph. I’m sure many people these days believe that lying motionless on a road verge with its feet in the air is natural behaviour for a Badger. Our road trips may be macabre safaris but roadkill can tell us a lot about the state of our island’s mammalian fauna. Hedgehogs, a squashed staple on the roadkill menu a few decades ago, are now hard to find flattened on the highway, reflecting their dramatic fall in numbers in the wider countryside. And recently an unfamiliar corpse has appeared on the tarmac: the Polecat.

Before being killed by cars, Polecats already had a long history of persecution in England – mainly for eating poultry and notoriously stinking to high heaven. To Shakespeare, and many others since, ‘Polecat’ was an insult.

The species was exterminated from Sussex around 1890. Indeed, the entire English population was banished to the wilderness of Wales. Yet we were happy to welcome their watered-down, domesticated form – the Ferret – as cuddly pets and ruthless Rabbit hunters. After a century in exile, purebred Polecats are making a comeback. This re-colonisation was the basis for a recent investigation by the Vincent Wildlife Trust who requested roadkill Polecat corpses for DNA testing to verify their pure Polecat lineage (as opposed to Polecat/Ferret hybrids). I was soon dodging traffic on the Steyning by-pass and excitedly picking up a dead Polecat.

Being mustelids, Polecats naturally smell but, take my word for it, they smell a lot worse when they’ve been dead for a few days. Despite discharging a whole can of Glade, my wife smelt that something was up seconds after I set foot in the house. Putting a dead Polecat in your freezer will test even the strongest of marriages.

Thankfully, after some smooth talking, my marriage is still intact but there are still some fish fingers that neither of us are brave enough to eat. Next morning a package arrived from the Vincent Wildlife Trust containing heavy duty bags, some cool BIOHAZARD stickers and printed instructions for posting Polecats. After an interesting exchange at the post office counter, my roadkill casualty was posted. A few days later, it was declared 100% Polecat; further evidence that Polecats have returned to Sussex.

It’s great to have them back and many farmers are welcoming them too, as they do a great job of dispatching Rats and Rabbits. Look out for them in your headlights.

By Michael Blencowe: Learning & Engagement Officer, Sussex Wildlife Trust.

Polecat Darren Trafford Sussex Wildlife Trust.
Polecat Darin Smith Sussex Wildlife Trust.