Marooned in Maywick Posted March 30, 2012 Report Share Posted March 30, 2012 Do any naturalist folk ken exactly what wildlife we have native to Shetland in the way of polecats, ferrets, mink, weasels, stoats, whitterits etc? We nearly ran over a polecat tonight and it got me wondering just what we do have here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crofter Posted March 30, 2012 Report Share Posted March 30, 2012 Do any naturalist folk ken exactly what wildlife we have native to Shetland in the way of polecats, ferrets, mink, weasels, stoats, whitterits etc? We nearly ran over a polecat tonight and it got me wondering just what we do have here. Well, it depends "where". There was a mink farm in Whiteness, whittrits are throughout most of the mainland by cunning and escaped ferrets are described as "polecats" wherever they occur. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulb Posted March 31, 2012 Report Share Posted March 31, 2012 are not all land mammals inports. see shetland wildlife they have soe wonderful pictures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crofter Posted March 31, 2012 Report Share Posted March 31, 2012 I would say all except whittrets. The rest swam or were released. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJ Posted March 31, 2012 Report Share Posted March 31, 2012 I was under the impression that otters where the only native mammal to Shetland (or at least recorded in the times of the Vikings) all other Mustelids have been imported. From escapes from fur farms to wonderful stories of non payment of taxes, it was quite interesting to research, but the A4 sheet it produced is long gone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marooned in Maywick Posted March 31, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 31, 2012 If I re-worded the question to ask what do we have here (anywhere on Shetland) NOW would that make any difference? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DizzyKipper Posted March 31, 2012 Report Share Posted March 31, 2012 and escaped ferrets are described as "polecats" wherever they occur. Polecats and Ferrets are genetically very similar. The difference between a domestic ferret and a European polecat is that a ferret is the domestication of the Polecat and is a pet. Domestication has reduced the Ferrets ability to fend for themselves. Polecat Ferret hybrids do exist and are very difficult to distinguish from a true Polecat. The domestic ferret is smaller, and has a more fragile bone structure. A domestic ferret is usually lighter in color, and the mask does not reach the tinted neck band like it does with the European polecat. The European polecat has a rounder face. The back of the ears of a European polecat is dark, whereas it is light in the domestic ferret. European polecat jaws are much stronger than those of the domestic ferret. The European polecat is more muscular. The European polecat is a solitary animal and only meets in the mating season, while the ferret loves company. http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_do_you_know_the_difference_between_a_European_polecat_and_a_domestic_ferret Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trooter Posted March 31, 2012 Report Share Posted March 31, 2012 It is thought that all Shetland mammals have been intoduced. Polecats can be found throughout mainland Shetland, but are not thought to be on yhe isles according to SBRC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MuckleJoannie Posted March 31, 2012 Report Share Posted March 31, 2012 From that font of knowledge Ghostrider on another thread about this subject http://www.shetlink.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6162&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=25 quote="Ghostrider"]Apparently, and I am not sure whether it is just an urban myth, our beloved Council in their infinite wisdom introduced the polecat to Shetland because of there was an abundance of bunnies on the golf-courses! If that is actually true, then thanks, guys! I remember reading somewhere that the king's falconer used to visit the isles and demand eggs from every household to take back to the king. One year a particular household refused to part with their eggs, so the following year the king's falconer returned with polecats/ferrets and set them loose on the isles in an act of revenge. Again, maybe an urban myth. Anybody know? if I remember correctly the book was a very thin old paperback entitled something along the lines of "Pictures from Shetland's Past". The pictures were drawings as opposed to photographs and there was also a short story about a minor earthquake/tsunami that occurred where a lot of debris and dead fish were washed up on Muckle Flugga. Unfortunately the dates escape me. ^^ By Fred Irvine. I don't have it to hand to check, but the following is from Venables' "Tempestous Eden" (1952). "Stoats are likewise uncommon, and the story goes that they were introduced by the King's Falconer, whose job it was to levy a yearly tax of one fowl from every house "to feed his Majesty's Hawks". Brand (1701) was told that the Falconer in revenge for being denied hens brought two weasels to Shetland "which did generate and spread". This report clearly applies to the stoat, often referred to as weasel or whittret (white rat) in Shetland; for no weasels occur at all. The hawk hen tax continued until 1838 and the claim was again set up during Queen Victoria's reign, but successfully resisted. Stoats may have been introduced on some islands tp prey on rabbits and on more than one occasion a stoat has been observed crossing the sound of Vaila, a distance of nearly a quarter of a mile." P.S. Typos all mine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonus Posted April 1, 2012 Report Share Posted April 1, 2012 If memory serves me right, all land mammals were introduced to Shetland, on purpose (e.g. hedgehog) or by accident (e.g. brown rat). Frogs too. I've heard or read that otters came from Scandinavia rather than Britain, perhaps for their fur? I don't think they're on Foula or Fair Isle, not sure about elsewhere.There's been records of other mammals that don't exist nooadays. Brown hares spring to mind, and I think black rats. Also, wasn't there a bear kept on an isalnd in Bluemull Soond? That's a few hundred years ago though - something to do with butter, so a Cullivoe man told me . I think toads were introduced by didn't survive.Laughton Johnston's book is a good readI hear of more bats than when I was a bairn.Cheerio Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MuckleJoannie Posted April 1, 2012 Report Share Posted April 1, 2012 The story about the bear on Linga is related here, along with some other stories of bears in Shetland. http://www.shetlink.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=9350 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mogling Posted May 3, 2012 Report Share Posted May 3, 2012 I read somewhere why Polecats are called that - from the French Poulet {hen / chicken} as that's what they slaughter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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