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.
The allometry between baculum size, body size and body condition was studied in the polecat Mustela putorius). The aim of this study was to investigate whether penis size is dependent on body size. We also calculated the correlation between the size of the baculum and body condition. Our research was based on 107 bacula and skulls from a museum in Slovakia. Individual traits describing the sizes of the body, skull and baculum were moderately to strongly correlated (r between 0.16 and 0.72). Condition was expressed as residuals from a regression analysis of body mass on structural body size. The size of the baculum was correlated with other measurements of body size and with body mass. Analysis revealed that the strongest positive correlation with condition of males was with the size of the baculum. Because the baculum varies between individuals and grows throughout life, the relationship between its size and condition confirms that the baculum may be a suitable indicator of male quality.