Polecat rescued from roadside after mum hit by car

A young polecat is being nursed back to health at a wildlife hospital after it was found clinging to his dead mother and sibling by the roadside.

A member of the public found the dehydrated polecat with the bodies of his family after they were hit by a car in the village of Alwalton, Peterborough.

Rescuers from the Wildlife Rescue and Emergency Network then took in the animal for the night before he was taken to Leicestershire Wildlife Hospital in Kibworth Harcourt.

Amy Blower, an animal care team leader at the hospital, said the young polecat, also known as a kit, would be trained how to survive and hunt before being released back into the wild.

"There were no obvious signs of being hit," she said. "He was quite dehydrated and lethargic having not been able to get hold of any food with his mum passed away."

After a couple of nights of round-the-clock care, the kit is now rehydrated and "doing well", said Blower.

She added: "He's been feeding by himself. We're hoping to get him acclimatised outside soon showing the necessary skills of hunting, finding shelter, those kinds of things.

"Once we're satisfied that he's got all of what he needs, then he'll be released."

Polecats are a native species to the UK, but were declared vermin during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I for their reputation as a "bloodthirsty" threat to poultry, the Wildlife Trust said.

They were hunted to the brink of extinction in the UK, but the trust said polecats were now a protected species and populations were rising once more in rural Wales and central, southern and eastern England.

Blower said: "Polecats are becoming more common but they're an elusive creature, so most people don't have the opportunity to see them, and they are a rarity that we get them here in care."

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