Woman bitten by escaped polecat

A WOMAN from Woodcote was taken to hospital after she was bitten by an escaped polecat called Munch.

Helena McBride, 60, was sitting in a chair on the patio in her back garden at 8.30pm on Sunday when the creature emerged from some bushes.

She said: “I was sitting in the garden having a glass of wine and out of the corner of my eye I saw it. It came right up to us, so clearly it wasn’t scared of humans.”

The professional organiser pulled out her phone to take a photo of the polecat and, when it didn’t move away, assumed that it was a lost pet.

While her husband, Julian, went to retrieve a lidded box for the 40cm-long animal, Mrs McBride picked it up.

She said: “I picked it up because obviously someone had lost their pet and it was fine and quite relaxed while I took it into the kitchen as my husband, Julian, was looking for a box. While I was waiting, the blessed little thing decided ‘I don’t like this’ and instead decided that it was going to chomp on my hand, not just the once but several times with its needle-like teeth.”

Mrs McBride was bitten around 10 times before her son, Adam, 22, came to the rescue to release her punctured and bleeding left hand from the animal’s mouth.

She said: “Adam held it under its jawline to help it to release but it kept biting and I wasn’t quick enough each time he released for me to get my hand out without ripping my skin — it was really quite painful.”

After making an online post on Facebook, Mrs McBride was able to track down the owner, who she said had felt terrible about what happened. They had lost two polecats, named Nibble and Munch, which had been missing since Wednesday last week. They used to work with a bird of prey when hunting rabbits.

Mrs McBride said: “I gave them a call and he was here in 10 minutes to pick it up. I asked them what the name of the ferrets were.

“He had to check with his daughter because she named them but they’re called Nibble and Munch — they should have been called Chomp and Chew.”

As a precaution, she attended Townlands Memorial Hospital on Monday where they disinfected the area with iodine and administered a tetanus shot and three days of antibiotics. She said: “I’ve had a cat bite before and they’re awful and I didn’t want to have to worry about getting sepsis.

“Townlands was great and I was seen within about 20 minutes. We all had a bit of a giggle, with them saying ‘we’ve not had this one before’.

“My fingers were very swollen, either from the bite, trauma and bruising to the skin, or swelling because it’s infected. The lady at the reception was very sensible and said for me to take my rings off in case it swelled more.

“I feel a bit more comfortable knowing I’ve done everything I can and I’ve taken all the precautions, and hopefully it will heal and be fine.”

Mrs McBride advises that if anyone were to come across a polecat or ferret to “not cuddle it like a pussy cat”.

She said: “Apparently, the way to pick up a ferret is to not cuddle it like a pussy cat but to pick it up by its tail. Thinking about it, I should have picked it up like a cat does with its babies, by the scruff of the neck, but at least I know now.”

The owner of the two ferrets said: “They are both very tired and have been very quiet since getting home.

“The ferrets are polecats and both are females. The reason for having them is to work them with a bird of prey when hunting rabbits. The idea is that the ferret flushes the rabbits out of the burrows and then the bird is released to catch the rabbit, if it can.”