It is hard to guess what a Striped polecat weights. But we have the answer:
An adult Striped polecat (Ictonyx striatus) on average weights 812 grams (1.79 lbs).
The Striped polecat is from the family Mustelidae (genus: Ictonyx). It is usually born with about 13 grams (0.03 lbs). They can live for up to 13.33 years. When reaching adult age, they grow up to 33.5 cm (1′ 2″). On average, Striped polecats can have babies 1 times per year with a litter size of 2.
As a reference: An average human weights in at 62 kg (137 lbs) and reaches an average size of 1.65m (5′ 5″). Humans spend 280 days (40 weeks) in the womb of their mother and reach around 75 years of age.
The striped polecat (Ictonyx striatus) – also called the African polecat, zoril, zorille, zorilla, Cape polecat, and African skunk – is a member of the family Mustelidae that resembles a skunk (of the family Mephitidae). The name “zorilla” comes from the word “zorro”, which in Spanish means “fox”. It lives predominantly in dry and arid climates, such as the savannahs and open country of Central, Southern, and sub-Saharan Africa, excluding the Congo basin and the more coastal areas of West Africa.
Animals of the same family as a Striped polecat
We found other animals of the Mustelidae family:
- Least weasel with a weight of 79 grams
- Eurasian otter bringing 8.86 kilos (19.53 lbs) to the scale
- North American river otter bringing 8.09 kilos (17.84 lbs) to the scale
- Nilgiri marten bringing 2.04 kilos (4.5 lbs) to the scale
- Striped skunk bringing 2.4 kilos (5.29 lbs) to the scale
- Marine otter bringing 11.2 kilos (24.69 lbs) to the scale
- Yellow-bellied weasel with a weight of 264 grams
- Marbled polecat with a weight of 594 grams
- Sable bringing 1.17 kilos (2.58 lbs) to the scale
- Asian small-clawed otter bringing 3.53 kilos (7.78 lbs) to the scale
Animals with the same weight as a Striped polecat
As a comparison, here are some other animals that weight as much as the Ictonyx striatus:
- Cacomistle bringing 906 grams to the scale
- Three-striped night monkey bringing 912 grams to the scale
- American marten bringing 878 grams to the scale
- Southern white-breasted hedgehog bringing 690 grams to the scale
- Angolan slender mongoose bringing 750 grams to the scale
- Peruvian night monkey bringing 800 grams to the scale
- Andean squirrel bringing 803 grams to the scale
- Black-footed ferret bringing 907 grams to the scale
- Red acouchi bringing 949 grams to the scale
- Green acouchi bringing 966 grams to the scale
Animals with the same size as a Striped polecat
Not that size really matters, but it makes things comparable. So here are a couple of animals that are as big as Striped polecat:
- Burmese ferret-badger with a size of 39.9 cm (1′ 4″)
- Short-beaked echidna with a size of 37.6 cm (1′ 3″)
- Chinese hare with a size of 38 cm (1′ 3″)
- Nasuella olivacea with a size of 38.8 cm (1′ 4″)
- Dice’s cottontail with a size of 37.4 cm (1′ 3″)
- Manzano Mountain cottontail with a size of 38.5 cm (1′ 4″)
- Tailless tenrec with a size of 32.7 cm (1′ 1″)
- Potto with a size of 32 cm (1′ 1″)
- Giant naked-tailed rat with a size of 31 cm (1′ 1″)
- Podogymnura truei with a size of 31.3 cm (1′ 1″)
Animals with the same litter size as a Striped polecat
Here is a list of animals that have the same number of babies per litter (2) as a Striped polecat:
- Manchurian hare
- Maritime striped squirrel
- Lowland ringtail possum
- Mediterranean pine vole
- Richmond’s squirrel
- Mountain ground squirrel
- Thick-tailed pygmy jerboa
- Moncton’s mosaic-tailed rat
- Brown deer mouse
- Northern palm squirrel
Animals with the same life expectancy as a Striped polecat
Completely different animals, but becoming as old as a Striped polecat:
- Lesser hedgehog tenrec with an average maximal age of 13 years
- Royal antelope with an average maximal age of 14 years
- Pampas fox with an average maximal age of 13.67 years
- Cape ground squirrel with an average maximal age of 13 years
- Calabar angwantibo with an average maximal age of 13 years
- American red squirrel with an average maximal age of 12 years
- Guinea pig with an average maximal age of 14.75 years
- Common bent-wing bat with an average maximal age of 14 years
- Horsfield’s tarsier with an average maximal age of 12 years
- Leopard cat with an average maximal age of 15 years