The European marbled polecat occupies a variety of habitats, including temperate mixed forests with warm summers and an abundance of oak, birch, and maple trees, flooded meadows where water frequently covers the ground and grass is plentiful, Mediterranean forests characterized by hot, dry summers and mild, rainy winters, deserts and dry scrublands with infrequent rainfall and cacti, and temperate steppes with abundant grasses and few trees. The species also lives in landscapes that include dry land, terrestrial forests, hilly areas, and plains, and it can be found at elevations up to 1.5 kilometers. Climates where the European marbled polecat resides range from hot steppes with very hot, dry summers and plentiful grass, to environments that are extremely dry with rare rainfall, to regions experiencing almost no rain during the summer months but more precipitation in winter, and areas with very hot summers exceeding temperatures of 25 to 30 degrees Celsius. The species also lives in areas that are consistently very wet with nearly constant rainfall and high humidity.