WILD THINGS: When Matt Benson of Kane sent us a photo of a
fisher, an animal reintroduced more than a decade ago in
Pennsylvania, he had mentioned they prey on porcupines. That got
our attention and send us on a little adventure in wildlife
research.

In an article on the Game Commission website, authors Thomas L.
Serfass and Denise Mitcheltree call these creatures “swift and
elegant tree-climbing furbearers.”

“Like the river otter, mink, skunk and pine marten, fishers are
members of the Mustelid or weasel family. As with most mustelids,
the fisher possesses an elongated body and has relatively short
legs. About the size of house cats, adult fishers typically weigh
between four and 12 pounds and measure between 30 and 47 inches
from the nose to the tip of the tail.”

One things that had fascinated us was the fishers’ ability to
climb trees – as evidenced by the photos Matt sent to us.

“Most people familiar with fishers are aware of their
extraordinary ability to climb trees. High above the forest floor,
the agile animals locate cavities for denning, rest in abandoned
owl and hawk nests, or pursue squirrels, porcupines and other prey.
Fishers do travel extensive distances over land, though, and most
foraging occurs on the forest floor,” the article states.

Despite this creature’s name, fishers do not live on fish. They
will prey on many creatures – mice, shrews, squirrels, chipmunks
and porcupines – but also will eat deer carcasses and apples, nuts
and other fruit.

“Fishers are among the few animals that regularly prey on
porcupines, though, and are known to control porcupine populations.
In fact, some states have reintroduced fishers for the purpose of
reducing porcupine numbers,” the article stated.

Fishers, which were widely distributed throughout forested
regions when the pioneers began settling here, were unable to cope
with unregulated trapping and timber cutting during the 1800s. As a
result, fishers were essentially eliminated from the commonwealth
by the early 1900s.

Based on examination of potential fisher habitats, the expansive
forested landscape of northcentral Pennsylvania – areas from the
Allegheny National Forest to eastern Sullivan County – were
identified as potential fisher habitat for reintroduction.

In December 1994, the first fishers were released into the
Sproul State Forest in Clinton County and, since then and including
those in the initial release, about 160 fishers have been
reintroduced in Pennsylvania.