The Eastern Fisher is back as a productive and meaningful player in the suite of carnivores occupying New England................While the Western Fisher has been on the decline(Researcher are currently evaluating all the reasons for this), the Eastern Fisher has made a dramatic comeback in New England after being all but extirpated by the turn of the 20th century..........An effective re-wilding program by State Game Agencies in the 1950's has the Fisher once again an effective manager of the porcupine, squirrel and various rodents that call the Northeast home..........This tree climbing "fast and furious" and largest member of the North American Weasel family has shown real spunk and opportunism having further colonized and set up home again further South in the New York and New Jersey woodlands...........I say"Hail to to Fisher"(derived from the French word "fichet-Polecat, a related furbearer native to Europe) for proving to us humans that if we give our carnivore cousins some viable habitat, that they can take it from there and forge a successful living in the wild

The Fisher, Formidable Furbearer

by Li Shen

Of all our native mammals, none seems to elicit more disdain or hostility than the fisher. "Nasty," "bloodthirsty" and "vicious" are some of the adjectives used to describe this animal, also referred to as the "fisher cat," which is seemingly blamed for every housecat lost and chicken killed in New Hampshire and Vermont. The reputation is undeserved.

For openers, though cat-sized, the fisher is not a cat at all but rather the largest local member of the weasel family. The name "fisher" is likewise misleading, deriving not from an aptitude for fishing but probably from the French word "fichet," the name for the polecat, a related furbearer species native to Europe.

The fisher's luxurious winter pelt has been prized by humans for centuries, with the female pelt being softer and more silky than the male's and hence in greater demand. Historically, a combination of unregulated trapping and the clearing of forests for farms decimated fisher numbers. By the early 1900s, the fisher was extinct in most of New England.

In the following decades, the porcupine population exploded in the absence of the fisher (their primary predator), and the porcupine's habit of eating tree bark and subsequently killing trees led to widespread economic damage for landowners and timber-related businesses. The obvious remedy was to re-introduce the fisher, which state wildlife agencies began to do in the 1950s. As fishers repopulated their historic range, porcupine populations (and damage) declined.

Contrary to popular belief, fishers do not usually kill porcupines by flipping them over and attacking the belly. Autopsies of fisher-killed porcupines often show broken necks and smashed teeth, sure evidence of a fall. Indeed, eyewitness accounts describe fishers, excellent climbers, as harassing porcupines in trees by attacks to the face until the porcupines tumble. Yet even for this adept predator, attacking porcupines is a risky business and occasional fishers are found dead from quill injuries.

Only recently, as human development has spread deeper into our re-grown forests, has the fisher gained the reputation as a ruthless killer of housecats. Coyotes and foxes, however, are just as likely to take housecats, and these larger canines are generally more common than fishers. Red foxes, in particular, adapt well to the woodland edge habitat around rural homes. All three mammals, of course, are native to New Hampshire and Vermont, while housecats are not. The number of housecats killed by all the fisher, coyotes, and foxes combined is dwarfed by the number of native songbirds killed by the exotic housecat.

Besides killing housecats, tales circulate of fishers going on killing sprees in poultry yards, further adding to the fisher's bloodthirsty reputation. However, killing more than one prey animal at a time is behavior not limited to fishers. Other predators, including coyotes, hawks and even raccoons, will do the same. Killing more than one meal's worth at a time is an investment in the future because hunting success is unpredictable; thus many carnivores are in the habit of stashing extra food. Fishers typically haul carcasses up trees for storage or else bury them for later retrieval.

The fisher's natural diet consists mostly of rodents, from voles to squirrels, plus snowshoe hare, grouse and the aforementioned porcupine. They also eat carrion, apples, berries and nuts, frequently revisiting areas where they have successfully obtained food in the past. Unwanted fisher attention can be avoided, therefore, by removing food sources. Take down birdfeeders that attract squirrels and other rodents and secure garbage, compost and pet food. Keep your cat indoors and your poultry and rabbits in protected coops and hutches.

Landowners who feel they must get rid of a problem fisher should know that it is illegal to take furbearers out of season without a license and only approved methods are allowed. Contact your local game warden for assistance.

Trapping of fisher has been legal in both states since the mid-to-late 1970s, making the fisher once again an animal of some economic importance. Through the 1980s, an average of 20,000 fishers were trapped per year across North America and Canada. In 2006, over 400 were trapped in Vermont and 500 in New Hampshire.

Despite their outsized reputation, fishers are in fact not very numerous; their population density is low compared to carnivores of similar size. Their home territory varies from 10 to 25 square miles for a male and 3 to 8 square miles for a female. For comparison's sake, the typical town in New Hampshire or Vermont is comprised of 40 square miles or so. For all the hundreds of housecats that live in a typical town, therefore, there are probably fewer fisher than can be counted on two hands.

Li Shen is a member of the Thetford Conservation Commission and a scientist at the Dartmouth Medical School.