The fisher is often misunderstood

#MiddleburyCT #Fisher #MiddleburyLandTrust

This National Park Service photo of a fisher was taken by Emily Brouwer in Mount Rainier National Park in Ashford, Washington,

By JANINE SULLIVAN–WILEY

In previous articles, this column has described many animals, from bears to foxes. This month, it focuses on one of the most misunderstood, rarely seen, and almost never heard animals – the fisher.

The misunderstandings include both their vocalizations and their name. A weird or even chilling sound heard at night is often attributed to this animal when, in fact, it is most likely a red fox. Foxes come out with a wide range of vocalizations, many of which are quite strange or even scary. However, the fisher (Pekania pennanti) is a very quiet creature, as are most other mustelids. That group includes such other more familiar animals as ferrets, weasels, minks, martens, badgers, wolverines, and otters. However, the fisher is the only one in its little genus, Pekania.

It is also often erroneously called a “fisher cat,” but it is not a cat nor does it hunt or eat fish. Perhaps they were thought by some to be a kind of cat as fishers can retract their claws (although their five-toed paw prints typically show the claws), and they also have mobile ankle joints that enable them to easily climb around in trees. Their paws are large, so they can navigate snowy surfaces as well. The origins of the name “fisher” are most likely due to early settlers thinking it looked like a European polecat called a “fitch.”

Fishers are forest-dwelling animals, native in North America from much of Canada through the northern United States. They have the typical mustelid shape – a long body with rather short legs. They range from 30 to 47 inches (plus a 12-17 inch long tail) and weigh 4 to 14 pounds. Males are considerably longer and heavier than the females. Per Wikipedia, the largest male ever recorded was 20 pounds. Fisher fur is thick and shiny and deep brown to black in color. I have seen a fisher only once, bounding across the snow, and it looked completely black. Their fur may be lighter in the summer.

Fishers are primarily carnivores, although they will eat berries and nuts. On their preferred menu are squirrels, rabbits, mice, voles, frogs, birds and carrion, and they are one of the only predators of porcupines. There have even been reports from Maine of fishers killing Canada lynx. (That really speaks to their skill and ferocity as hunters.)

They are rarely seen, even where there is a stable population, as they are primarily (but not exclusively) nocturnal and solitary. They prefer large tracts of coniferous or mixed hardwood-softwood forests containing large trees for denning. That kind of habitat is found in Northwestern Connecticut. While they were extirpated (eliminated) from this state by the 1900s due to trapping and habitat loss, in 1988 the CT DEEP Wildlife Division initiated a project to reintroduce them with individuals trapped in New Hampshire and Vermont. They did well enough that their population spread to other parts of the state.

Sadly, their population is now in decline. While the reasons are not clear, the CT DEEP Wildlife Division is in the midst of a four-year project to find out why. There are several possible reasons: predation by bobcats, disease (specifically distemper), and poisoning by rodenticides. As in many cases where wildlife populations increase or decline, it may well be due to a combination of factors. To help in this research, please report any sightings to deep.FisherSightings@ct.gov including any details you can such as the date, time, location, and any photos or video. Also report any dead or vehicle-killed individuals to 860-424-3211. They will be collected for research.

For questions or comments, contact this writer at jswspotlight@gmail.com. You can visit the Middlebury Land Trust on Facebook or the website at middleburylandtrust.org to find plenty of great outdoor spaces to explore and information about upcoming events. Happy hiking!