Fisher

Martes pennanti

The fisher is a member of the weasel family, similar to the marten. A fisher has a long, slim body with short legs, rounded ears, and a bushy tail. Fishers are larger and darker than martens and have thick fur. Fishers are agile and swift and are also excellent climbers.

Length 3 feet (including 15 inch tail)
Weight 12 lbs (males); 8 lbs (females)

Lifespan about 7 years

Diet

Snowshoe hares, rabbits, rodents and birds, and are one of the few specialized predators of porcupines. Fishers are aggressive hunters.
Also known to eat insects, nuts, and berries when prey is not available. Despite their name, they do not hunt fish.

Population

Fishers are common in the Northeast and Midwest, but rare in the Northern Rockies and Northwest. They are one of the rarest carnivores still surviving in the western U.S.

Range

The fisher is found only in North America. Historically, it ranged the northern forests of Canada and the United States as well as forests in the Appalachian, Rocky and Pacific Coast Mountains. Today, fishers are found in parts of their historic range. In the U.S., they exist in portions of the Appalachian Mountains from New England south to Tennessee; northern Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan’s upper peninsula; northern Idaho and western Montana; and three small West Coast populations in southwestern Oregon, northwestern California, and the southern Sierra Nevada. Reintroductions have led to their reoccupation of former habitats in Idaho, Michigan, Montana, Nova Scotia, Vermont, West Virginia, Maine, Manitoba, Minnesota, New York, Ontario and Tennessee.

Behavior

Fishers prefer large areas of dense mature coniferous or mixed forest and are solitary animals. They are mainly nocturnal, but may be active during the day. They travel many miles along ridges in search of prey, seeking shelter in hollow trees, logs, rock crevices, and dens of other animals.

Reproduction
Mating Season April
Gestation Egg implantation is delayed till February or March of the next year, following which is a 30-day gestation period
Litter Size 1-4 kits
The kits remain with their mother until the fall.

Threats

Over-harvesting for pelts and loss of forest habitat due to logging and road building has significantly reduced and fragmented the fisher's range.

Legal Status/Protection

The West Coast fisher populations are "candidates" for protection under the Federal Endangered Species Act* (ESA), meaning they are awaiting protections behind other species that are considered a higher priority. Fisher populations on the West Coast and in the Northern Rockies are considered a "sensitive species" by the U.S. Forest Service, which means a "species for which viability is a concern because of current or predicted downward trends in numbers, distribution, or in habitat quality."

* The Endangered Species Act requires the US federal government to identify species threatened with extinction, identify habitat they need to survive, and help protect both. In doing so, the Act works to ensure the basic health of our natural ecosystems and protect the legacy of conservation we leave to our children and grandchildren.