Fisher Cats

 

order: CARNIVORA  family: MUSTELIDAE genus: MARTES  species: pennanti The fisher cat is a resident of dense forests, and is a solitary creature and very elusive. Few ever get the chance to see a fisher, mainly because they are nocturnal.
	However, fisher cats can sometimes be heard calling in the woodlands during their mating season. They have a chilling scream very much like that of a high-pitched child.
Fishers, which in addition to eating small game will emit a shrill shriek when provoked, enjoy a rather exaggerated reputation as predators. The Fisher is a medium size member of the mustelid family often compared to the American Marten, a slightly smaller mustelid, due to many shared habits and characteristics. The "fisher-cat" is neither much of a fish catcher nor is it a member of the cat family though it does resemble a house cat in general body size and shape, but the fisher has shorter legs and a longer, wedge- shaped snout.
	The fur on a fisher is dark brown to black, as an animal ages the hair tips may become ‘frosted’, especially around the head and shoulders.   They molt in the fall.  Males generally have coarser hair coats, this makes the females more desirable to trappers.
Their bodies measure 20 - 30 inches with an additional 13 - 17 inches of tail and weigh from 3 - 12 pounds. Males are usually significantly larger than the females. Tracks reveal 5 toes in a plantigrade foot averaging 3 in. wide by 4.5 in. long with thick fur on the soles of their feet in winter. The nails are at least partially retractable though not sheathed and the mustelid, 2x2 bounding gate is most common with fisher track patterns.
	Fishers are considered to be quite carnivorous, favoring snowshoe hares as well as squirrels, carrion, mice, shrews, voles, birds, fruits like berries, and ferns. They are also famous for their ability to successfully hunt and kill porcupines.  One of the very few other animals to prey on porcupines is a close cousin of the fisher, the wolverine.
The fishers’ long, wedge-shaped snout is well suited for making vicious attacks to the porcupines face until mortal wounds cause the porcupine to succumb. In some forests, fishers have been reintroduced to try to control porcupine populations.
	This biological control method has been successful at least for short-term population reductions; it is currently unknown how well it works for long-term porcupine population control. They generally hunt by systematically searching for patches of abundant prey and then systematically searching those patches for prey to kill. Fishers will sometimes cache food items and find/make temporary den sites near large food items like a deer carcass. The breeding season for fishers is in late March and April. Like most other mustelids, fishers experience delayed implantation of 10 - 11 months.

The egg is fertilized at the time of mating, then the embryo stops developing and remains in a dormant state until the female is in good physical condition during late winter, the embryo then implants and develops.  The actual gestation lasts approximately 30 days with parturition (birth) occurring in March and April. They typically breed again within 10 days of parturition. Females breed at one year and have their first litter of about 3 kits at age 2 years. Males are probably not sexually mature until age 2. Fishers are pretty solitary animals except during the breeding season when plantar glands on their hind feet increase secretions and a black, tarry substance of unknown origin signal their intent to mate. Fisher natal and maternal dens are usually located high (+/- 50 ft.) in tree cavities which partially explains their overall preference for mature to old growth, late successional, forest habitats. Researchers have noted significant use of young to mature forests during the winter. They also require significant tracts of contiguous forest with a high degree (70%) of canopy cover and prefer conifer or mixed conifer and northern hardwood forest types. They are also disproportionately associated with riparian communities for less than well known reasons. Fisher distribution and survivability is negatively impacted by forest fragmentation, stand isolation, and deep, fluffy snow. In comparison, martens have very similar habitat requirements but they are much less inhibited by deep snow.  This may be an important way in which these two species are segregated. There is a considerable span of home range size estimates from 1.5 to 25 sq. miles, probably averaging around 10 sq. miles. Once again, males tend to have much larger territories than females, which often overlap territories of more than one female but rarely that of another male. Fishers will commonly travel 2-3 miles each day and while they are arboreal to some degree, most hunting and traveling is on the ground. They mark their territories and communicate with urine and anal, cheek, abdominal, neck,  flank, and plantar (feet) glands. Martes pennanti was formerly widely distributed across northern forests of N. America up to around 60 degrees N. latitude, south in the Appalachian Mountains to North Carolina, and throughout the Pacific Coast mountains. Current distribution is now well known but they have not returned to the southern Appalachians, and are considered spotty in the Pacific Coast mountains, especially in Washington and Oregon, and in the southern reaches of their former distribution in the Rockies. These medium size weasels are particularly susceptible to logging and trapping. IDENTIFICATION As with other members of the weasel family, fishers have a long, low profile when moving along the ground. They average 32 to 40 inches in length, including a tapering, 12 to 16-inch tail. The males are considerably larger than the females. The legs of a fisher are short and stout and their feet possess retractable claws, which they use for climbing. A fisher’s coat is dark brown, dense, and glossy. The fisher (Martes pennanti) is the second largest member of the weasel family found in Massachusetts; only the river otter is larger. Although many people call them “fisher cats,” the name is inappropriate. They are neither members of the feline family, nor do they catch fish. Fishers were extirpated from much of the northeast in the 1700 and 1800s when loggers and farmers cleared the forests and unregulated trapping took its toll. In the east they are now found in southern Canada, New England and New York, and in scattered locations in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Virginia. In the 1950s logging companies, with permission from each state, reintroduced fishers into northern New England to control porcupines. At the time, porcupines were decimating seedlings planted by the timber companies to reestablish trees in logged areas. Fisher is the only species to deliberately target porcupines as prey. During the late 1800s, as farms were abandoned and the land became reforested, fisher numbers rebounded. With the exception of Cape Cod and the Islands, they may be potentially found in practically every community in Massachusetts.  BEHAVIOR Except during their brief mating season, fishers are solitary creatures and are active both night and day throughout the year. Research undertaken by University of Massachusetts graduate student, Eric York, shows that the home range – the undefended area used for foraging, mating, and raising young – of a female fisher in Massachusetts is 3 to 5 square miles and 4 to 8 square miles for a male. FOOD For the most part fishers are carnivores, although they will eat berries and fruit when they are available. They eat rabbits, snowshoe hares, squirrels, raccoons, mice, reptiles and amphibians, insects, carrion and, occasionally even house cats. Even though fishers do not catch live fish they will eat dead fish found on the shore of a lake or pond. Fishers are one of the few mammals that prey on porcupines. Porcupines are difficult to kill, but a dead porcupine can provide many days of food for a fisher, so it is worth the effort. While on the ground, not in trees, the fisher continually attacks the only vulnerable portions of the porcupine’s body, its face and underbelly. When facial wounds have weakened the porcupine, the fisher goes in for the kill. Again, to avoid the quills, the fisher eats its prey starting at the head, neck, or underbelly. DENS Fishers do not hibernate and they rarely occupy dens for long periods of time. Their temporary dens, which are used for resting and for shelter during winter storms, are located in rock crevices, hollow logs, tree cavities or vacant porcupine dens. Females usually establish their natal dens in tree cavities. BREEDING Breeding takes place in March or April when females are one to two years old. After a delayed implantation period of 10 or 11 months, the blastocyst (the earliest stage of the embryo) is implanted in the womb, possibly stimulated by changing day length. Once implanted in the womb the embryo develops in only six weeks. Young fishers are born the following March or early April, and females are able to mate again within just a few days after giving birth. YOUNG A litter of 1 to 4 kits is born in a maternity den in a hollow tree. The blind and helpless newborns are dependant on the mother for nearly four months (the male does not help rear the young). Young fishers begin to capture their own prey at four months of age, and disperse by the time they are five months old. By radio collaring the young, researcher Eric York has determined that after the young disperse, they can travel up to 70 miles in search of their own territory. SITUATIONS AND SOLUTIONS FISHER NUMBERS Until recently, the Massachusetts Audubon Society rarely received reports of fishers, but sightings have increased significantly since 2000, especially in eastern Massachusetts. There may be a number of contributing factors, but surely one impact is the reforestation of land previously cleared for farming, particularly in central Massachusetts. Also, biologists have traditionally assumed that fishers could only survive in large, contiguous forests of mixed conifers and hardwoods. In recent years however, fishers have begun to occupy second-growth forests (land cleared for farming and now reverting back to forests) and sightings are becoming increasingly more common in locations near human dwellings. This increase suggests that the habitat requirements of fishers are more flexible than was previously thought. It is hard to say whether or not new trapping regulations have significantly affected the increase in fisher numbers in the Commonwealth. In November 1996, the residents of Massachusetts passed the Wildlife Protection Act, also known as “Question One,” which outlawed the use of leg hold traps and conibear (body gripping) traps in the state. During the November trapping season, fishers can currently only be trapped using box traps and the animals must then be humanely destroyed. The figures for the 1995-1996 trapping season (before the Wildlife Protection Act) indicate that 226 fishers were harvested in Massachusetts. With the new regulation in place, the 2000-2001 season recorded the fisher harvest at 124 animals. FISHER AND HUMANS Fishers are secretive and elusive creatures. They keep their distance from humans and, unlike other wildlife such as squirrels, raccoons, and skunks, they do not den under buildings. FISHER AND DOMESTIC CATS A domestic cat roaming in the wild could become food for a fisher. To protect cats from fishers, as well as coyotes, Great Horned Owls, cars, and disease, it is recommended that cats be kept indoors. FISHER AND RABIES Although fishers may carry ticks, fleas and mange, they are not susceptible to rabies. There is a report of a woman and a dog in the Glenville, NY area (Feb, 2007) (article here) being attacked by a fisher that was carrying rabies.  Anyone bitten by a Fisher definitely should be immediately tested for rabies. As with any bite or scratch from human, or animal, domestic or wild - one should ALWAYS seek proper medical attention. FISHER AND STATE LAW Relocating wildlife is illegal in Massachusetts (321 CMR 2.14 [21] [b]) and is detrimental to the well being of wildlife as well as the public. Unknowingly, sick animals may be transported and released in other locations, causing the spread of disease. Animals released in unfamiliar territory have a hard time surviving. They must compete with resident animals, and they often have difficulty finding food and shelter. Furthermore, relocation is ineffective: each time a territory opens, there is always another fisher “waiting in the wings.” It is also against state law (321 CMR 2.12 [9] [a]) to possess wild birds and mammals. Wildlife rehabilitators are trained and licensed by the state to care for injured and orphaned wildlife. If you need the services of a rehabilitator, contact the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife at 508-366-4470, or Massachusetts Audubon’s Wildlife Information Line at 781-259-2150.