A Marvellous Mustelid - the Polecat!

Dr Dan Forman is talking about the polecat at St Hilary's Church Community Hall on Tuesday 10 November, from 7:30pm to 9:00pm. The talk is run by the Wildlife Trust of South & West Wales Swansea group and runs for an hour and a half.

Forman was an Associate Professor in Biosciences at Swansea University for many years, and he's spending the evening telling the story of the polecat: a misunderstood predator that's making a comeback after being persecuted to near extinction. In Victorian Britain, polecats were treated as vermin, and by 1900 they'd been driven to the brink. Since then they've been quietly returning, particularly in Wales and along the borders, living secretly in dense woodland, valleys and marshes on a varied diet that includes rabbits and rats.

Forman describes them as 'largely overlooked, misunderstood and forgotten predators', and he frames the species as a useful case study in the challenges of conserving small carnivores in the modern landscape. It's a good way to get a proper look at a creature most of us never see, and to hear why it's worth paying attention to.

The hall is on Gower Road, and the talk runs from 7:30pm to 9:00pm, with doors open from 7:15pm. Entry is free, though a donation of at least £2 per adult is requested.