Mustelid du Jour: The Fisher doesn't scream and doesn't eat fish either

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Thursday, March 17. 2011

Mustelid du Jour: The Fisher doesn't scream and doesn't eat fish either

Country folk call them "Fisher cats," and blame them for the decline of Ruffed Grouse populations in the Northeast (about which they are wrong. Grouse and Fishers coexisted for millennia. I blame the grouse population drops on fire suppression, habitat loss - and the dang Coyotes who would not be here had we not killed all of the wolves).

Fishers are large members of the weasel family (the Mustelidae - stoats, badgers, otters, martens, mink, weasels, wolverines) - kinda like mini-Wolverines.

With the return of woodlands and the decline of fur trapping, Fisher populations are rebounding in the northern US, especially in New England (same as with the Black Bear). They are one of the few animals that kills Porcupines.

I've never seen one in the wild, but I'd like to.

Do they scream? It seems to be an Old Wives' Tale. Info about Fishers here and here.

Have any of our readers seen one?

Posted by Bird Dog in Natural History and Conservation, Our Essays at 12:22 | Comments (14) | Trackbacks (0)

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They show up regularly on the game cameras I've got in the woods in the southwest Adirondacks. Two years ago I had one walk to within 5 feet of me while I sat on the ground during the deer season there. Never saw me before it loped off. And we have lots of grouse and (surprisingly) wild turkeys in the area...few porkies, however.

#1 joated (Link) on 2011-03-17 12:45 (Reply)

I too had one slink by while I was turkey hunting a few years back. It's movement was similar to the grey squirrel as it moved over, around and under logs and fauna.

Very impressive animal.

#2 Dose Amigo (Link) on 2011-03-17 12:53 (Reply)

We have them here in WI. they seemingly came over from upper Michigan. I could not say if they scream, or not, but I kinow that this Badger can play the Sousaphone.

#3 SCOTTtheBADGER on 2011-03-17 13:15 (Reply)

Numerous sitings reported in PA of late.

#4 Kevin on 2011-03-17 16:01 (Reply)

Speaking of the prevalence of coyotes, the wildlife associations frequently put out warnings in suburban Chicago reminding residents to watch over their small pets. You can find coyotes wandering along the lakefront in downtown Chicago and, on a hot day around noon, one even entered the open door of a Loop deli and settled in the low shelf of a cooler on top of the soda cans. Animal Cruelty had to remove him. He went quietly -- exhausted from shopping perhaps.

#5 jma on 2011-03-17 17:35 (Reply)

I see them frequently up here in the Ottawa Valley countryside.

I have never heard a peep from them.

The cats around here tend to be very nervous!

#6 JJM on 2011-03-17 17:45 (Reply)

I was deer-stalking one time in Maine, and I stopped for a rest in a beech-oak patch. It was getting near quitting time, so I didn't get the best look, but this small animal came into view, and was busy as hell going from one tree or scraped patch to another - never stopped moving for more than a few seconds. I described what I saw to a friend, and he said that it was a fisher cat. Does anyone recognize that behavior?

#7 steve in CT on 2011-03-17 18:30 (Reply)

Awful, politically incorrect moi had a fisher coat back in the days of slaving away in the freezing, windy canyons of NYC. Fisher fur is as light as sable, prettier in color, particularly the chocolate brown with just a bit of black, and it is a bit fluffy. No one had any idea what it was around here, and when told, no one seemed to have heard of fisher. The spouse, always a wag, told people it was a weasel coat.

#8 MissyW on 2011-03-17 18:32 (Reply)

A couple of years ago I was out after grey squirrels early one morning and came across one of these climbing down a maple, head first. This was within a couple of hundred feet of the house. We saw each other at about the same time and looked for a few seconds. I can only say that his expression was "What are you looking at?". He continued down the tree and walked off towards the neighbors. In spite of the real estate, he clearly thought I was in his yard.

#9 lenf on 2011-03-17 18:42 (Reply)

I saw one in the wild in broad daylight 22 years ago. I was on the South Sisters trail to Green Lake in Oregon. I had just started back from Green Lake when I saw it. As luck would have it two hikers were coming towards me on the trail and they were talking. They were out of sight but the Fisher was totally distracted by the sound and since I had already stopped I was making no noise. I wish I had a camera with me. Today I carry a camera every waking hour of the day.

#10 GoneWithTheWind on 2011-03-17 18:49 (Reply)

According to the link, river otters qualify(?). The wife and I were shocked... shocked! to see numerous large river otters on a canoe trip on the northern Delaware River some years ago.

Having grown up in the Philly burbs, we just assumed all of PA was basically a concrete jungle with a few nice patches of woods. How wrong we were, and I'm happy to report that I've learned even further in my older years how wrong we were.

#11 Big___Al on 2011-03-17 22:25 (Reply)

Groton, MA- within the past 2 years, one ran across the road in front of me as i drove home, and another (or maybe the same one) ran across the jogging trail in front of my wife while she was out for a run. we both felt fortunate for the fleeting encounters

#12 neuromonq on 2011-03-17 23:19 (Reply)

There's always a fisher hanging around my place in northern MA, near the NH border.
I've seen them at dawn and dusk.
They hunt the rodents in my woodpiles and may be responsible for keeping the bunnies in check.

And they certainly do scream.
When I hear one near the house it's cat lockdown for a few days.

Cool looking things, and fast as lightning.

#13 cat on 2011-03-18 19:07 (Reply)

I saw one last night, nearly hit it with my car as it crossed the road. It didn't seem to be in a hurry. I have seen them a few times here in Maine. At first I thought it was an otter, but color was wrong, black, and it was a bit smaller.

#14 John Hutchins on 2011-04-02 17:24 (Reply)

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Thursday, March 17. 2011

Mustelid du Jour: The Fisher doesn't scream and doesn't eat fish either