Diet of the European polecat Mustela putorius in an agriculural area in Poland

• Main Authors: Malecha, Anna W., Antczak, Marcin
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Subjects: mustelid; feeding habits; seasonality; farmland; Microtus arvalis
• Online Access: https://kramerius.lib.cas.cz/view/uuid:588dc178-a8e5-4641-b386-d892d3f76c5f

The diet of the polecat (Mustela putorius) was studied by analysing 1078 scats collected in extensive farmland in Poland between 2006 and 2008. The diet included a wide variety of prey species; the main component were rodents (51.7 % of biomass), mainly Microtus arvalis. Birds were the second most common group in the diet (%Fr = 4.5). Anurans, reptiles, invertebrates and other items were additional elements of the diet. Seasonal comparisons reveal differences in diet. Rodents and birds were exploited throughout the year. Other mammals and carrion were the main component of a winter diet, whereas in spring amphibians and reptiles were characteristic prey. Diet of polecat from the studied agricultural landscape in Poland was more similar to diet of population from Hungary than to France. All these patterns confirm that polecat is a food generalist with almost exclusively carnivorous diet and can easily exploit different food resources.