A Fisher passes by a game camera at Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller NHP. / © Ed Sharron
Whether you call it a Fisher, Fisher Cat, Pekan, or by its latin name Martes pennanti – there are as many incredible stories about this predator as there are names, some may be a little too incredible. This month on Outdoor Radio, hosts Kent McFarland and Sara Zahendra join biologist Steve Faccio to learn about the mystical Fisher. Faccio helped to successfully reintroduce Fishers in Connecticut, and with the aid of radio tags or tracks in the snow, he’s followed their lives closely.
Join Outdoor Radio as they use the new-fallen snow to find the tracks of a Fisher and see what it was doing. Along they way, they’ll dispel a few myths about Fisher and learn about some amazing natural history and adaptations. Walk with the Fisher on Outdoor Radio.
Listen to the show
Watch a Game Camera Video
Watch a Fisher visiting a game camera placed by Ed Sharron at Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park in Woodstock and shared on Flickr.
For more information on Fisher
Report Your Sightings
You can report your sightings to iNaturalist Vermont, a project of the Vermont Atlas of Life, and
view a map of Fisher sightings already reported to iNaturalist Vermont.
View Some of the Fisher Tracks We Found on Outdoor Radio
As we followed the Fisher tracks we found a log he jumped leaving a light mark where his tail dragged across the log. /© K.P. McFarland
After he jumped the log, he came down the hill and paused, likely standing upright, and then turned and continued on. / © K.P. McFarland
These tracks show the 3-4 pattern of tracks common to Fisher. /© K.P. McFarland
Steve Faccio (right) showing Outdoor Radio the 3-4 pattern of tracks common to Fisher.
Outdoor Radio is produced in collaboration with Vermont Public Radio. The program is recorded and produced by VPR’s Chief Production Engineer Chris Albertine.
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This is one of my favorite OR broadcasts. Who knew that fishers don’t actually scream? Owl, fox, or prey…the scream is sure an eerie forest sound. Another forest tale is that the fisher preys on treed house cats. Common neighborhood story for why a number of cats go missing over a couple of month period. Could be another myth??
Hi Tedjas, Well, there isn’t a lot of evidence that they actually do eat house cats much. Here’s a great article from a few years ago that sums up the lack of evidence quite nicely.
http://scientistatwork.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/06/do-fishers-really-eat-cats/ So, it appears, this too might be another case of myth busting!
This was a fascinating broadcast! I was intrigued at the very beginning when I learned that they ate squirrels! We are overrun by squirrels and I don’t think we have fishers in Washington state. Thanks for a great talk and the accompanying photos.
Fisher are actually a conservation concern in the PNW. Here’s a map of their range that is pretty interesting: http://wdfw.wa.gov/conservation/fisher/graphics/fisher_historical_current.jpg.
They were wiped out from Washington in the 1930s. Here’s a bit of information about their reintroduction and conservation over the last few years: http://www.conservationnw.org/what-we-do/wildlife-habitat/fisher
They are much more common here in New England for sure!
The first time I saw a fisher was in Exeter, Rhode Island. I was standing quieting in the woods when I heard a high-pitched scream. It sounded like the female victim in a cheap horror movie, and it sounded like it was right behind me. When I looked I saw a fisher come charging through the woods being pursued by a coyote. They didn’t seem to notice as they passed within 100 feet of me. I saw them cover about 300 feet before losing sight of them. I have seen fishers a few times since, but never herd any more vocalizations.
What gave away the identity to me of the owner of the vocalization here was the “like a cheap horror movie” description: that HAD to come from a porcupine. Having taken my shotgun & (a small lone woman) tremulously gone into the woods to “save” a presumed murder victim- in- progress & tracking the sound to my 1st of many confirmed porkie sightings connected with that exact blood curdling sound, & based on this site’s info that fishers don’t vocalize that way, I can with confidence say that the coyote /fisher chase that you witnessed was just a marvelous right place/ right time coincidence that maybe involved them disturbing a porcupine tangentially.