I have a very healthy respect for them
My father in law kept polecats but he wasn't a very good owner and kept them in the coal shed. When they weren't in the shed they were in a sack, which I nearly trod on as he didn't tell me what was in it. My husband has two large scars, one on his hand and one on his face which are polecat related, so he has a respect for them too
We recently got up close and personal to a beautiful silver girl who found herself in my outhouse one very dark night, having gone missing from home. I thought she was a rat and she ran onto my dustpan and up my arm. I nearly had a heart attack
She was reunited with her owner via a local ferret rescue