How many baby Steppe polecats are in a litter?
A Steppe polecat (Mustela eversmannii) usually gives birth to around 9 babies.With 1 litters per year, that sums up to a yearly offspring of 9 babies.
Each of those little ones spend around 40 days as a fetus before they are released into the wild. Upon birth, they weight 5 grams (0.01 lbs) and measure 2.1 cm (0′ 1″). They are a member of the Mustelidae family (genus: Mustela). An adult Steppe polecat grows up to a size of 43.5 cm (1′ 6″).
To have a reference: Humans obviously usually have a litter size of one ;). Their babies are in the womb of their mother for 280 days (40 weeks) and reach an average size of 1.65m (5′ 5″). They weight in at 62 kg (137 lbs), which is obviously highly individual, and reach an average age of 75 years.
The steppe polecat (Mustela eversmanii), also known as the white or masked polecat, is a species of mustelid native to Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia. It is listed as Least Concern by the IUCN because of its wide distribution, occurrence in a number of protected areas, and tolerance to some degree of habitat modification. It is generally of a very light yellowish colour, with dark limbs and a dark mask across the face. Compared to its relative, the European polecat, the steppe polecat is larger in size and has a more powerfully built skull.The steppe polecat is a nomadic animal which typically only settles in one area until its prey, mainly ground squirrels, are extirpated. It mates from March to May, and generally gives birth to litters of three to six kits, which attain their full growth at the age of two years. It hunts for larger prey than the European polecat, including pikas and marmots.
Other animals of the family Mustelidae
Steppe polecat is a member of the Mustelidae, as are these animals:
- Burmese ferret-badger with 2 babies per pregnancy
- American mink with 4 babies per pregnancy
- Yellow-bellied weasel weighting only 264 grams
- Hooded skunk with 4 babies per pregnancy
- Giant otter with 2 babies per pregnancy
- Siberian weasel with 6 babies per pregnancy
- American marten with 2 babies per pregnancy
- Sea otter with 1 babies per pregnancy
- Spotted-necked otter with 2 babies per pregnancy
- Japanese marten weighting around 1 kilograms (2.2 lbs)
Animals that share a litter size with Steppe polecat
Those animals also give birth to 9 babies at once:
- Ricefield rat
- Ciscaucasian hamster
- Turkish hamster
- Robinson’s mouse opossum
- Sikkim rat
- Franklin’s ground squirrel
- Texas antelope squirrel
Animals with the same weight as a Steppe polecat
What other animals weight around 1.69 kg (3.73 lbs)?
- Steppe polecat usually reaching 1.68 kgs (3.7 lbs)
- Back-striped weasel usually reaching 1.5 kgs (3.31 lbs)
- Nabarlek usually reaching 1.4 kgs (3.09 lbs)
- Eastern bettong usually reaching 1.66 kgs (3.66 lbs)
- Jamaican coney usually reaching 1.5 kgs (3.31 lbs)
- Northern brushtail possum usually reaching 1.55 kgs (3.42 lbs)
- Seven-banded armadillo usually reaching 1.53 kgs (3.37 lbs)
- Tolai hare usually reaching 1.59 kgs (3.51 lbs)
- Java mouse-deer usually reaching 1.88 kgs (4.14 lbs)
- Ruddy mongoose usually reaching 1.7 kgs (3.75 lbs)
Animals with the same size as a Steppe polecat
Also reaching around 43.5 cm (1′ 6″) in size do these animals:
- Bronze quoll gets as big as 35.6 cm (1′ 3″)
- American mink gets as big as 36.6 cm (1′ 3″)
- Greater bamboo lemur gets as big as 37 cm (1′ 3″)
- Nasuella olivacea gets as big as 38.8 cm (1′ 4″)
- Rusty-spotted cat gets as big as 40.6 cm (1′ 4″)
- Pig-tailed langur gets as big as 49.9 cm (1′ 8″)
- Grey-cheeked mangabey gets as big as 51.9 cm (1′ 9″)
- Black-headed night monkey gets as big as 35.7 cm (1′ 3″)
- Cape hare gets as big as 42.6 cm (1′ 5″)
- Short-tailed mongoose gets as big as 41.5 cm (1′ 5″)