Active at night, weasels generally hunt alone, capturing rodents, fish, frogs, birds and birds' eggs. This became Anglicized to Polecat and several members of the weasel family are commonly referred to as polecats. The domestic ferret is related to these polecats and can interbreed with some of them. The ferret's skeletal features most closely resemble the Steppe Polecat, Mustela evermanni and the European polecat, Mustela putorius. The domestic ferret is classified as Mustela putorius furo.
Ferrets are notorious for stealing and hording small objects and food.
The word ferret may also come from this Latin root. To further confuse the issue, a white domestic ferret was developed and was preferred by many for hunting. This was because the white ferret was easier for hawks and hounds to distinguish from its wild cousins, polecats. Ferret fur was sold as fitch. White ferret fur is difficult to distinguish from another species of weasel, the ermine.