Our first polecat record in the North York Moors National Park
In August 2023, one of our trail cameras in the North York Moors National Park captured footage of a previously unseen species in our Yorkshire surveys – a polecat.
As part of the Yorkshire Pine Marten Project, we’ve been running 50 trail cameras in forests in the North York Moors National Park since 2018, generating thousands of wildlife records. After 5 years of monitoring, footage of a new species is a rare and exciting moment for this project!
This is the 63rd species we’ve recorded on our Yorkshire cameras and we’ve now recorded all 7 species of the mustelid family found in Britain within the North York Moors National Park: Pine marten, polecat, stoat, weasel, American mink, badger and otter.
Unpacking a 3-second video clip
We captured just one short video clip of the polecat passing by our trail camera, yet it provides valuable information. Positioned across a stream in a mixed woodland, this camera captures a popular route for various species navigating the landscape alongside a watercourse.
While not the best trail camera video due to its brevity, slight delay in triggering and the movement of the animal away from the camera, the loping gait and fur colour are unmistakably polecat. However, from the fur colour, it appears to be a polecat-ferret hybrid.
Ferrets are a domesticated version of the polecat and the two species can crossbreed, creating a hybrid. Depending on variations in fur colour, polecats and polecat-ferret hybrids can be difficult to tell apart without a genetic test. In this case, the pale fur colour indicates hybridisation: during summer, true polecats have a much darker fur.
Status of polecats in Yorkshire
Polecats were once present throughout much of mainland Britain and the Isle of White. Habitat loss, trapping for fur and persecution were the causes of dramatic declines in polecat numbers in Britain a century ago. Following successful conservation efforts and legal protection, polecats have spread out from their historical stronghold in Wales, recolonising much of south and central England’s lowland areas.
The last assessment of polecat distribution in Britain was conducted by Vincent Wildlife Trust in 2014/15. 15 verifiable polecat records were collected for Yorkshire, 7 true polecats and 8 polecat-ferret hybrids. There were no verified polecat records for the North-east Yorkshire vice county (VC62), which encompasses the North York Moors National Park; the location of our recent trail camera footage.
In the 2014/15 survey, the nearest verifiable polecat records (3) were from the eastern side of the Yorkshire Dales, approximately 20 miles from our recent record. A previous polecat survey in 2006/07, again conducted by Vincent Wildlife Trust, found no verifiable records for the same part of the Yorkshire Dales, so this may suggest that polecats are gradually expanding their range further into Yorkshire.
The next national polecat survey will be run by Vincent Wildlife Trust in 2024/25. We’ll be fascinated to see if polecat records have increased across Yorkshire. In the meantime, our trail cameras will be continuing to monitor wildlife in the North York Moors National Park - fingers crossed for more polecat visits!
Learn More About Yorkshire’s Wildlife
This blog and video detail the 62 species recorded on our trail cameras in the North York Moors National Park - we’ll need to update this to record our latest visitor!
