Mammal Watch: Fishers

The fisher is an interesting species that does not have much of a public profile. Although sometimes colloquially called "fisher cats," they are not felines but mustelids, members of the same mammalian family as weasels, otters, badgers, minks, martens, and the much more notorious wolverine. They are native to Canada and parts of the northern and western United States, from Maine to California, but are difficult to spot in the wild, making them a real challenge for mammal watchers. Oddly, they don't eat much fish, but concentrate their formidable hunting instincts on small and medium-size land prey. Unusually, they go after porcupines with gusto, one of the few predators to do so.

I've recently come across two valuable blog posts about fishers. One is from Idaho Nature Notes and compares the fisher's success in different habitats:

http://idahonaturenotes.blogspot.com/2011/11/fishers.html

The other post, from Camera Trap Codger, offers some great photographs of fishers taken with a camera trap in Northern California:

http://cameratrapcodger.blogspot.com/2012/01/fisher-stopped-by-other-day.html