Polecat on the prowl for prey livens up my journey home

INSPIRED by my colleague Charlie’s fabulous nature feature in last Saturday’s paper, I thought I would share my recent fleeting encounter with a polecat.

Unfortunately, there is no grand build-up to the sighting, given the fact that I was driving at the time, but it was interesting nevertheless to catch a glimpse of this cunning carnivore. I was just a couple of minutes from home on a bright, sunny afternoon when I spotted a dark, unidentifiable shape on the verge.

The Cornish hamlet in which I live is chock-a-block with cats, so I was fully expecting a prowling puss to shoot out of the long grass, glaring angrily having had their mousing session so rudely disturbed by my car.

I was therefore very surprised when this slender, short-legged creature appeared instead. At first I thought it was an escapee ferret, but judging by the dark brown and cream markings (on top of reading Charlie’s feature), I’m almost certain that I was stopping for a polecat. A vast improvement, it has to be said, from my only other possible sighting, a lifeless body at the side of the A388 Callington to Gunnislake road.

A member of the mustelid family, which includes the stoat and little but fierce weasel, the thing I love the most about these accomplished hunters is the way they move, entire bodies rippling like a Mexican Wave as they dart from A to B, alert and ready for action. They also remind me a lot of the Slinky spring toy I used to have as a child, which spent most of its time being sent off for a walk down the stairs.

It begs the question, why did the polecat cross the road that day? I have recently seen a few myxomatosis-inflicted rabbits out on the verge, so to grab a takeaway lunch seems to be the most likely reason!