marbled polecat
vormela peregusna latin

Marbled polecats are most active during the morning and evening.

Marbled polecats are solitary and move extensively through their 0.5- to 0.6-km home range.

In the winter, marbled polecats will line their dens with grass.

The marbled polecat is found from southeast Europe to Russia and China.

Marbled polecats have been sighted in cultivated areas such as melon patches and vegetable fields.

In 1945, Kabul shopkeepers were reported to have kept marbled polecats to exterminate rodents.

Marbled polecats are generally found in the drier areas and grasslands of southeastern Europe to western China.

Delayed implantation allows marbled polecats to time the birth of their cubs for favorable conditions, such as when prey is abundant.

Ranging in length from 29-35 cm (head and body), the marbled polecat has a short muzzle and very large, noticeable ears.

The skull does not have much in common with that of the European badger, and looks like a larger version of a marbled polecat skull.

Among them, Bobrinski's Serotine and Marbled Polecat are endemic.

The marbled polecat was once sought for its fur, generally known as "fitch" or more specifically, "perwitsky" in the fur trade.

The decline in marbled polecat populations thought to be due to habitat destruction (cultivation) and reduction in available prey by use of rodenticides.

Marbled Polecat (Vormela peregusna)

The skull bears little similarity to that of the European badger, and greatly resembles a larger version of a marbled polecat skull.

To dig, such as when excavating dens, the marbled polecat digs out earth with its forelegs while anchoring itself with its chin and hind legs.

The marbled polecat (Vormela peregusna) is a small mammal belonging to the monotypic genus Vormela within the Mustelinae subfamily.

When alarmed, a marbled polecat will raise up on its legs while arching its back and curling its tail over the back, with the long tail hair erect.

Marbled polecats are found in open desert, semidesert, and semiarid rocky areas in upland valleys and low hill ranges, steppe country and arid subtropical scrub forest.

Burrows of large ground squirrels or similar rodents such as the great gerbil (Rhombomys opinus) and Libyan jird are used by marbled polecats for resting and breeding.

The local wildlife includes leopards, deer, monkeys, several kinds of pheasants, the Marbled polecat and the increasingly rare Flying squirrel and a species of Pine Marten.

Marbled Polecat (Vormela peregusna)

The marbled polecat (Vormela peregusna) is a small mammal belonging to the monotypic genus Vormela within the Mustelinae subfamily.