ROADKILL could give the clue to increasing polecat figures in the New Forest.

Forestry Commission chief keeper Martin Noble has the grisly job of checking out corpses he finds in the road.

The sad irony is the more polecats that he finds squashed, the more there are alive and kicking and chasing down rabbits and rats.

Mr Noble said: "Persecution in the early 1900s drove the species back to one last foothold in mid-Wales.

"In recent years the animals have gradually spread back into the border counties and back into England.

"Then five years ago a single animal was spotted on the South Coast, suggesting there was a revival here."

Trouble is polecats are rapid movers and secretive, so normal counting techniques prove ineffective.

"A breakthrough came when a direct correlation was discovered between the number of dead polecats found on the roads and the live ones at large in the woods.

"It seems sad, but finding a lot of squashed ones this year could herald a marvellous wildlife return and mark 2004 as Hampshire's year of the polecat."

Polecats have dark brown fur with light-edged ears and have dark "bandit masks".

Anyone who finds a polecat, dead or alive, should contact Mr Noble on 023 8028 6843.