The question of why an American skunk is sometimes called a polecat stems from a historical and linguistic confusion spanning continents and centuries. Although the two animals are superficially similar, they are not closely related today. To understand this misnomer, we must examine the animal that originally held the name and the creature early American settlers encountered. This clarifies the historical accident that led to the shared name and the scientific reclassification that separated the species.
Defining the European Polecat
The animal originally known as the polecat is the Mustela putorius, a creature native to Western Eurasia and parts of North Africa. This species belongs to the Mustelidae family, a group that also includes weasels, badgers, and otters. The European polecat is recognizable by its slender, elongated body, dark brown fur, and a distinct dark mask across its face.
The polecat is the wild ancestor of the domestic ferret. Like many mustelids, the European polecat uses anal glands to secrete a foul-smelling, musky liquid for territorial marking and defense. This potent musky odor is a characteristic that links the polecat to the later confusion with the American skunk.
Defining the American Skunk
The animal most commonly associated with the name “polecat” in North America is the striped skunk, Mephitis mephitis. This is an entirely New World species widespread across North America, ranging from Canada down to northern Mexico. The striped skunk possesses a stout body, short legs, and a distinctive black coat marked by a white stripe that typically splits into a V-shape down its back.
This animal is known for its highly developed defensive mechanism, involving two specialized anal scent glands. Unlike the European polecat, which uses musk primarily for marking, the skunk can spray a noxious, yellowish musk in a directed fluid stream, deterring threats up to six meters away. The skunk’s conspicuous black and white coloration acts as a warning signal to potential predators, a concept known as aposematism.
The Historical Naming Confusion
The reason the skunk was called a polecat lies in the efforts of early European settlers to name unfamiliar North American wildlife. When colonists first encountered the skunk, they lacked a native English word for the new animal. They instead used names of animals from their homeland that shared similar, noticeable traits.
The settlers observed that the skunk was a small, dark-furred mammal that, like the European polecat, defended itself by emitting a powerful, musky, and foul odor. The shared characteristic of a potent scent and dark coloration was enough for the immigrants to apply the familiar name “polecat” to the new species. This was an act of linguistic convenience based on superficial similarity rather than scientific connection.
The name stuck because the most memorable trait of both animals was their smell, which the settlers associated with the existing European animal. The skunk’s superior ability to spray its musk was simply an intensified version of the foul odor already known from the Old World polecat. This practical, non-scientific naming decision created a confusion in the common language that persists in some regions today.
Scientific Classification and Current Terminology
While the historical linguistic link remains, modern science has definitively separated the two animals into different taxonomic groups. For many years, skunks were mistakenly classified as a subfamily within the Mustelidae family, alongside the true polecats. However, genetic and morphological evidence demonstrated that skunks have a distinct evolutionary history.
Skunks were subsequently reclassified into their own independent family, Mephitidae, a name derived from a word meaning “stink.” This new classification reflects that the skunk’s highly specialized scent glands and unique characteristics separate it from the weasel family. Consequently, a skunk is not a true polecat, but the term “polecat” continues to be used as a regional colloquialism, particularly in parts of the Southern United States.