THE FISHERS ARE AMONG US
On February 28th, at the Cataraqui Conservation Authority, a talk about Fishers was given by Jeff Bowman, a research scientist with the Ministry of Natural Resources. He told us that extensive research on this animal has been conducted over the past 10 years by MNR and two universities. Because there is a lot of myth and fear around Fishers in our area , we thought our members might like a synopsis of this talk.
The Fisher is a member of the weasel family and it got its name from the European Poul Cat that the French called Fitch (pronounced Fiche). This developed into the name Fisher. The males, slightly larger than the females usually weigh about 15 lbs while the females who tend to be a bit smaller, are in the range of approximately 9 lbs. They are dark brown ranging to almost black in color.
Twenty years ago our area did not have any Fishers, since Algonquin Park was the furthest south that they ventured. Their range of locations had been greatly diminished, especially in Southeastern Ontario, due to logging, overharvesting for fur and predator control. Since 1999 they have begun to recover their numbers and their range of locations. The Fishers in our area have mainly migrated from the Adirondaks, coming across the St. Lawrence River. Fisher numbers have increased in Southeastern Ontario since the 1950’s, because the forested area has increased, mainly due to the reduction in farming. Many of the farms were subdivided, sold off, and allowed to go back to natural forestation.
This has attracted back the Fishers as they prefer densely forested areas with a wide variety of both deciduous and coniferous trees with big trees which often contain their dens. Southeastern Ontario is also attractive to Fishers because it has a good supply of diverse food sources.
Fishers are solitary animals and live alone except that the females who stay with their kits for about 6 months, spring until fall. Once they are two years old, females mate and have their young in the spring months, usually producing from 2-4 kits per year. This is a good time for this process as food is plentiful.
Fishers are very territorial and males will fight with males and females will fight with other females in their territory. Males and females don’t fight even if their areas overlap, and female territories are often smaller and inside male territories.
They are considered generalist predators. The mainstay of their diet is rabbit and porcupine. However they are scavengers and will eat deer carcasses, and road kill as well as turkeys, birds, raccoons, snakes, fruit and berries. And yes they have been known to eat the odd cat and small dog. This apparently is unusual but not unheard of. It is very rare that Fishers would attack a human unless cornered. Their rate of survival is only 50-56% per year and many of them die due to starvation during the winter, so the most critical time to watch your cats and small dogs is during the winter, when food is not plentiful for Fishers.
So as a conclusion, we would say that Fisher population is increasing in our area, due to the return of natural wooded areas and that they are not as dangerous as most of us would think. |
