Another super-rare fisher found in Warren County
Weasel family member could be making return
AP File Photo/Louie Balukoff — A weasel-family predator that all but disappeared from New Jersey in recent decades, the fisher could be returning to the Garden State, as indicated by the capture of two fishers in the past two months, while only one had been documented over the course of the previous nine years.
Posted: Feb. 19, 2016 12:01 am
TRENTON -- There have only been three live discoveries of fishers in New Jersey in the last decade, but two have now been found in 2016.
The state's first capture of the largest member of the weasel family in more than nine years took place on Jan. 15 in Mansfield Township.
Less than a month later, another fisher was caught and released on Feb. 6 in Washington Township, according to New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.
While logging operations and unregulated trapping dramatically slashed New Jersey's fisher population in the early 1900s, the latest evidence of fishers indicate that their presence may be on the rise.
The animal, once rigorously pursued for the value of its fur to the point where it was eliminated statewide, could be making a comeback.
"Fishers have most likely come to northwestern New Jersey from the Catskill Region of New York State, where they were introduced in the late 1970s to early 1980s," said Caryn Shinske, a public information officer with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.
"The habitat conditions in Sussex and other northern counties in New Jersey are similar to those in Orange and Rockland counties in southeastern New York State. Fishers appear to have found suitable food and shelter resources to sustain themselves here."
Warren County, New Jersey borders
Pennsylvania---in the NJ Highlands
Warren County, New Jersey borders
Pennsylvania---in the NJ Highlands
Fishers are long, slender animals usually measuring between 20 and 25 inches with dark brown or black fur with white-tipped hair over most of their bodies.
They prefer to live in forested areas, making dens in hollow trees and preying on small animals, including mice, squirrels, shrew and even porcupines.
- New Jersey is 42 percent forested.
- 62 percent of New Jersey’s forests are privately owned.
- Forests are the greatest land use in New Jersey.
- The Northern Red Oak Quercus rubra is the New Jersey state tree.
- New Jersey has one of the most vivid displays of fall foliage that rivals those of forests anywhere else in the world. Peak season starts in early October.
- The Flowering Dogwood Cornus florida is the New Jersey state memorial tree.
New Jersey Forest Management Facts
- New Jersey has 166 towns and cities designated as a “Tree City USA.”
- NJ has more than 300 Tree Farms managing over 92,000 acres.
- There is approximately 775,000 acres of state-owned open space in New Jersey.
- 4,479 New Jersey woodland owners are enrolled in Farmland Assessment resulting in 227,438 total acres of forests under active management.
- 1,040 participants enrolled in Forest Stewardship Program, covering 115,019 acres of NJ forest land.
- More than 50 percent of New Jersey communities either have or are working on a Community Forestry Management Plan.
- The New Jersey Forest Nursery produces 300,000 seedlings yearly at a low cost for all New Jersey residents.
New Jersey’s Unique Forested Areas
- Roughly 70 percent of the Highlands region in New Jersey is forested. Each year over 20 million people visit the Highlands scenic mountains and waterways for recreation activities such as hiking, biking, canoeing, and fishing.
- The New Jersey Pine Barrens or Pinelands covers over one million acres of the Outer Coastal Plain in southern and central New Jersey. This unique environment supports stands of valuable Atlantic White Cedar and the endangered Pine Barrens Tree Frog. 45 percent of the Pinelands is publically-owned.
- The Natural Heritage Database contains more than 11,000 records of locations in New Jersey for rare plants, animals, and ecological communities.
A generalist carnivore species, a fisher will eat anything it can catch — typically small- to medium-sized mammals and birds. Carrion and some nuts and fruits also make up a portion of its diet. They are known to eliminate weak or injured deer, especially in times of heavy snow pack.
While its diet may be general, one part is very special: this is the only predator of porcupines in the country. The prickly defenses of the porcupine protect it against almost all predators except the fisher, who has developed a special way of hunting its prey. It will chase a porcupine up a tree until it can go no further and falls. Then, it will make a head-first descent down the tree with the help of semi-retractable claws and feet that can turn nearly 180 degrees. The fall stuns the porcupine, allowing the fisher to access the unprotected underside.
These predators share prey with coyotes, bobcats, foxes and even raptors, creating competition with these species. Fishers have been known to travel hundreds of miles to meet their dietary needs, able to cross water if need be.
They live a solitary life-style, with home ranges between 1-3 square miles, seldom overlapping, which suggests territoriality. They are found to be active at any point during the day or night. Fishers make homes in dens year round, using a variety of forest resources such as tree hollows, stumps, debris piles, natural crevices and underground tunnels. Females with litters will use tree hollows that are far off the ground.
Fishers themselves have no natural enemies and few disease occurrences. Trapping by humans and vehicle collisions likely account for the majority of deaths throughout their range.
"Fishers can swim sizeable lakes, and are often found in timbered swamps and bogs," Shinske said.
"Their home range varies from 2.3 miles to 15 square miles, with males having a larger home range than females.
"Home ranges overlap between sexes, but little between members of the same sex. Males defend their territory against other males, females against other females."
Northern Pennsylvania reintroduced roughly 200 fishers back into the region nearly two decades ago, while a trap-and-transfer project between 1976 and 1979 brought a sustainable population back to the Catskill Mountains.
New Jersey may be finally seeing the signs of this resurgence.
In October 2006, University of Montclair student Charles Kontos captured three fishers on a trail camera in Stoke State Forest as part of his graduate research project.
By 2008, six confirmed fisher sightings had taken place.
All of the animals were believed to have originated in the Catskill region.
The New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife now has records of 59 different fishers being reported by the general public, although many have not been followed up or confirmed.
Within the past few months, three fisher carcasses have been recovered from vehicular strikes, in addition to the two confirmed captures in traps.
There is no known population number for fishers statewide.
"It is curious that it has taken nearly a decade for a fisher to be captured by a trapper, given the number of traps set in the state," Shinske said.
"But, with no open trapping season for fishers, there is no reason for trappers to set traps for the animal, which has shorter legs than fox and may have simply avoided cable restraints on traps set for fox or coyote.
"The more animals the Division of Fish and Wildlife can handle, the better our knowledge of fishers will be."
There is no open trapping season for fisher or bobcat, and anyone who encounters either species should notify the Division of Fish and Wildlife by calling 877-927-6337.
Possession of a fisher or bobcat is not permitted.
The latest discoveries of fishers in Mansfield and Washington will go a long way in helping the Division of Fish and Wildlife determine the health of the population statewide.
Both animals were documented for vital characteristics, including sex, weight and DNA, and returned to their habitat unharmed, providing confidence that they are returning to New Jersey a century after being eliminated.
"Fishers arrived in New Jersey on their own from either New York State or Pennsylvania," Shinske said.
"The DEP's Division of Fish and Wildlife did not do anything to restore this native species to New Jersey, meaning they were not imported from other states.
"We are thrilled that this native species has returned to New Jersey, and would like to see the population continue to increase and gradually expand throughout the state."
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A generalist carnivore species, a fisher will eat anything it can catch — typically small- to medium-sized mammals and birds. Carrion and some nuts and fruits also make up a portion of its diet. They are known to eliminate weak or injured deer, especially in times of heavy snow pack.
While its diet may be general, one part is very special: this is the only predator of porcupines in the country. The prickly defenses of the porcupine protect it against almost all predators except the fisher, who has developed a special way of hunting its prey. It will chase a porcupine up a tree until it can go no further and falls. Then, it will make a head-first descent down the tree with the help of semi-retractable claws and feet that can turn nearly 180 degrees. The fall stuns the porcupine, allowing the fisher to access the unprotected underside.
These predators share prey with coyotes, bobcats, foxes and even raptors, creating competition with these species. Fishers have been known to travel hundreds of miles to meet their dietary needs, able to cross water if need be.
They live a solitary life-style, with home ranges between 1-3 square miles, seldom overlapping, which suggests territoriality. They are found to be active at any point during the day or night. Fishers make homes in dens year round, using a variety of forest resources such as tree hollows, stumps, debris piles, natural crevices and underground tunnels. Females with litters will use tree hollows that are far off the ground.
Fishers themselves have no natural enemies and few disease occurrences. Trapping by humans and vehicle collisions likely account for the majority of deaths throughout their range.
New Jersey Forest cover(dark green heavy)
New Jersey Forest cover(dark green heavy)
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjo1IiH_pzQAhVFUbwKHXClAZIQFggoMAI&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fs.fed.us%2Fnrs%2Fpubs%2Fru%2Fru_fs61.pdf&usg=AFQjCNED0E0WuiGdx9gStme8iyIHkT2NRA&sig2=2-x6SyY7sDgGr1nSRpBU5A
The New Jersey Highlands in the northwestern portion of the
state is good habitat for The Fisher
The New Jersey Highlands in the northwestern portion of the
state is good habitat for The Fisher
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