Six orphaned polecats return to wild after being found whimpering next to dead mother under Stockport home

By Dean Wilkins

Six hungry and frightened orphaned polecats are being released into the wild after they were found under a Stockport conservatory.

The six-week-old kits were found whimpering frantically near to their dead mother in the corner of a storage area underneath the home.

And after the homeowners managed to rescue the animals, the RSCPA managed to secure a future home for them.

Debra Naden's husband found four of the polecats mewing on the back lawn of their house in Poynton.

Mrs Naden said: "They looked hungry and were mewing frantically so I rushed into the house and found some ham which was used to lure the four kits out, that's when the RSPCA inspector arrived to help and to take them away for specialist care.

"The inspector investigated the storage area and found their dead mother and one dead kit but was convinced she could hear at least one more so we left food down and waited for an hour or so and another came out.

"It wasn't until some smelly cat food had been left out that, late in the evening, the sixth and last kit emerged and we captured it."

The polecats have been transferred to Stapeley Grange Wildlife Centre in Cheshire for weaning.

They will be kept in a large enclosure with minimum human handling from staff until the beginning of September.

Lee Stewart, wildlife centre manager at Stapeley Grange, said: "The kits will be with us until September; in the meantime we will identify a suitable release site. They will stay in their outside run until their release, at which point they will be transferred out to a purpose-built release cage.

"Following their release, the team will continue to feed the polecats for a further two weeks, slowly reducing the amount provided.

"Post release monitoring of orphaned polecats using radio collars, by the team at Stapeley, has shown that rehabilitating orphaned polecats does work and gives them a second chance of a life back in the wild."

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