How big does a Striped polecat get? Here is an overview over the average adult age:
A grown Striped polecat (Ictonyx striatus) reaches an average size of 33.5 cm (1′ 2″).
When born, they have an average size of 0 cm (0′ 0″). During their lifetime of about 13.33 years, they grow from 13 grams (0.03 lbs) to 812 grams (1.79 lbs). Talking about reproduction, Striped polecats have 2 babies about 1 times per year. The Striped polecat (genus: Ictonyx) is a member of the family Mustelidae.
As a reference: Humans reach an average body size of 1.65m (5′ 5″) while carrying 62 kg (137 lbs). A human woman is pregnant for 280 days (40 weeks) and on average become 75 years old.
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:
- European pine marten with a size of 45.7 cm (1′ 6″)
- Black-footed ferret with a size of 39.7 cm (1′ 4″)
- Marine otter with a size of 67.8 cm (2′ 3″)
- Least weasel with a size of 18.9 cm (0′ 8″)
- Hairy-nosed otter with a size of 76.5 cm (2′ 7″)
- Palawan stink badger with a size of 39 cm (1′ 4″)
- Greater grison with a size of 25.7 cm (0′ 11″)
- Fisher (animal) with a size of 75.1 cm (2′ 6″)
- Sea otter with a size of 1.44 meter (4′ 9″)
- Yellow-bellied weasel with a size of 26 cm (0′ 11″)
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:
- Long-tailed chinchilla with a size of 30.5 cm (1′ 1″)
- Ring-tailed cat with a size of 33.9 cm (1′ 2″)
- Cream-coloured giant squirrel with a size of 34.3 cm (1′ 2″)
- Robust cottontail with a size of 39.4 cm (1′ 4″)
- Lutrine opossum with a size of 32.4 cm (1′ 1″)
- Short-beaked echidna with a size of 37.6 cm (1′ 3″)
- African striped weasel with a size of 30.4 cm (1′ 0″)
- White-faced saki with a size of 34.6 cm (1′ 2″)
- Mountain cottontail with a size of 32.4 cm (1′ 1″)
- Dice’s cottontail with a size of 37.4 cm (1′ 3″)
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:
- Eastern harvest mouse
- African clawless otter
- Desert bandicoot
- Eastern gray squirrel
- Lundomys
- Guyenne spiny rat
- Spotted-necked otter
- Turbo shrew
- New Guinean jumping mouse
- Common gundi
Animals with the same life expectancy as a Striped polecat
Completely different animals, but becoming as old as a Striped polecat:
- Pampas fox with an average maximal age of 13.67 years
- Greater fairy armadillo with an average maximal age of 12 years
- Müeller’s gibbon with an average maximal age of 14.5 years
- Thomson’s gazelle with an average maximal age of 15.17 years
- Smooth-coated otter with an average maximal age of 15 years
- Bat-eared fox with an average maximal age of 13.75 years
- Maned wolf with an average maximal age of 15 years
- Java mouse-deer with an average maximal age of 12 years
- Dhole with an average maximal age of 16 years
- Southern tree hyrax with an average maximal age of 12.25 years
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:
- Western woolly lemur bringing 828 grams to the scale
- Raffray’s bandicoot bringing 905 grams to the scale
- Northern Amazon red squirrel bringing 700 grams to the scale
- Moluccan flying fox bringing 728 grams to the scale
- Southern white-breasted hedgehog bringing 690 grams to the scale
- Yellow mongoose bringing 694 grams to the scale
- Gunnison’s prairie dog bringing 798 grams to the scale
- Spectacled flying fox bringing 759 grams to the scale
- Brown-tailed mongoose bringing 711 grams to the scale
- Moonrat bringing 787 grams to the scale