Beware the Fisher

if i was worried about the safety of my domestic pets, i would keep them indoors. rather than encourage the trapping/killing of wildlife that has been in the area long before humans.

you may not know this but a fisher is one of the only known predators to the porcupine. take them away and it will really mess up the ecosystem.

I have a fisher cat lurking our backyard and I don’t n
know what to do.
My kids and Pets are very active (along with me) and always go outside…………..Should I keep them in???

Mary Beth, I’m in agreement with you RE: What an interesting and amazing animal the Fisher is, however I dont care what the Wild life boilogists say. I have personally seen and heard a Fisher Scream on quite a few occasions. I saw a very large Fisher chase a huge Raccoon off of my neighbors trash barrel at about 2:00 AM screaming like a banshee. Scary stuff. A 40 pound Raccoon took off like he was shot out of a cannon when confronted by a large tom Fisher. “And it was the FISHER doing the screaming/crying. A large Tom Fisher is in a class of it’s own as far as it’s tenacity. Second only to his big cousin the Wolverine. While Coon hunting a few years back My friend’s dog treed a Fisher after a long chase. The Dog, a 95 pound Blue Tick Coon Hound is among the most ferocious dogs alive. We did not know what We were chasing until We cought up to it after about an hour. By then the Fisher had had enough and was ready for a fight. Lost his sense of humor. While we were down below discussing our find He decided to make a fight of it and came down the tree so fast we thought He fell. He was 30 feet up and made that in about one second. He went for My friend Jerry who had no time to think. He fell backward half concerned about the status of his shotgun and that the muzzzle did not end up passing by any two legged companions or his dog who was fixated on the Fisher. The Dog intercepted the Fisher and IT WAS ON!!! All we could do was watch as Jerry’s Dog had his underside kicked open, His insides coming out, had half His nose bitten off, one ear bitten off, and His throat ripped open all the way to his jugular vein. Fortunatly the vein was not damaged. The Fisher got his hooks in the dogs neck from under so his impressive choppers were at the dogs throat while his huge rear claws ripped the dog’s gut open. After what seemed like a lifetime the Dog got his choppers on the Fishers head and ended it. The Vet wanted to put the Dog down when we finally got him proper care. Jerry said after a fight like that we’re going to give Him a chance and paid the $1500.00 vet bill. The Dog lived. Fortunatly. 300 stitches. Some of them to reattatch half his nose, many to sew his insides back in. A year later almost to the day He chased down another one. Only this time We didn’t hang around long enough to revisit just how unfriendly a pissed off Fisher can Be. Also, the animal that almost killed Jerry’s dog weighed in at 26 pounds. So that throws the 20 pound thing right out the window. I’ve seen a couple of others just as big if not bigger. And oh yeh, That animal was screaming like a hundred cats on fire, and making other ungodly noises. Made Me want to jump in bed and pull the covers over My head!! I’m of the opinion that a big tom will prey on cats, small dogs, ect… A Woman in Hamilton Ma. had her Jack Russel Terrier torn right off the leash and devoured in front of her by an audatious over grown tom Fisher. That occured along the hedgrow at the Myopia Hunt Club about ten years ago. A Woman in Boxford Ma. had her leg ripped open by a Fisher just passing by At eight in the morning. I personally had the crap scared out of Me on another occasion when one was raiding the squirrel nest in the attic of my delapitated garage. It came out on the roof and made a scream like a cat on fire and a baby crying and a turkey cackling all at the same time. He came right down to the edge of the roof and faced Me off. He made it clear He was not afraid of Me and would be more than happy to shred Me. I had a gun in My hand and I was still terrified. I ran in the house and didn’t come out after dark for a month. He was out ther every night for a couple of weeks making all sorts of frieghtning sounds. Fisher vocalisations run the gamut. They make sounds like a injured rabbit. They make bird sounds. They make turkey sounds. They do a near perfect angry grey squirral. They make cat sounds. It’s part of their hunting stragety. They lure in other animals who come to investigate the sounds. My cat fell for the old grey squirrel trick. I saw the Fisher make the squirrel sound, so there is no debate about their vocalisations as far as I’m concerned. Occasionally they loudly throw all the different sounds together and the result is that terrifying banshee from hell sound. Where I live there is at the very least a moderate concentration of Fishers, and Coyotes, also Foxes. When a cat goes missing and there is no evedence of Fisher attack it was more likely a Coyote. Studies have shown when examining contents of Fisher stomachs very seldom is there cat remains. And some of that can be attributed to eating road kill. A small or female Fisher is probably not going to go out of it’s way to try to kill a cat. However there is that certain percentage of larger specimines over 16-20 lbs. maybe 5-10% who will make it their business to at least try to make dinner of any cat they come accross. Two things I’ve learned is, when feeling set upon they will fight to the death. Also what I learned from the Squirrels in the garage incedent is dont interupt their dinner. They will defend their meal very agressivly. Occasionally a big one will make a meal of your dog weather your on the other end of the leash or not. Also some of the more mature animals are vantriloquists of sorts. I wittnessed this Myself. He made a sound of an angry or injured Grey Squirrel and lured My Coon Cat Scout right in. Upon realizing Scout was a huge very healthy cat at about 22 pounds the fisher which was not a particularly large specimine came about half way down the tree and assesed the situation. When it noticed our whole family advancing to him or her it beat a hasty retreat. Last summer a small Fisher was hanging around with my other cat. I was calling tha cats in At about elevin oclock. My other coon cat Harley came trotting home with what I thought was his brother Scout right on his tail. As it turned out the other animal was evedently his new friend. Before Harley got to the front stairs the Fisher took a swipe at his back legs and tripped him up. They rolled around play fighting for a minute when I yelled for the cat to get in the house. “Coon Cats are like dogs in that regard. They respond to commands”. When Harley got up and headed for the stairs the Fisher followed him right to the bottom stair, looked at me with no fear, but with some curiosity then took a hard left and went up the tree in My neighbors front yard. It probably weighed in at all of seven pounds. I was scratching My head over that one for a while. Usually these Cats are petrified of anything that looks like a Weasel. They both got their asses handed to them by a Mink that couldn’t have gone more than a pound and a half. He kicked the crap out of both of them at the same time. They tag teamed him and it wasn’t even a fair fight. They needed ten more cats. They came home looking back over their shoulders looking like they saw the devil himself. So just immagine the damage a large Fisher could do. It’s a Mink X 20. The one Jerrys dog killed had some of the most impressive teeth I’ve ever seen. And claws that were nothing like a cats. Like inch long fish hook Eagle talons. Huge hooked claws. Thats why the Dog couldn’t shake him. Once those hooks are in, there is no getting him off till he’s dead. Jerry’s dog got lucky. Mind you this was a very big tough tough mean mean dog. This Fisher at 26 lbs wasn’t even showing any grey at his tips yet so he was in his prime. By the way we were going to leave him once we saw what he was. We just didn’t realize how angry he was. It was a learning experience for sure. Not for the dumb ass dog!! Sorry for the protracted letter. I just had a lot to say about these animals. FYI, Fisher vocalisations are not an urban legend. Some day you will hear one. You’ll know exactly what it is when you hear it. My guess is they do not say much most of the time. But when they do they DO..TTYL, Regards, JIm…

We’re all animals Dave. Humans are just smarter. I encourage hunting and trapping about as much as I promote veganism. My protracted post was Just articulating some stories from the past regarding these interesting animals. FYI, The hunters and fishermen contribute more to the health and upkeep of the wild lands, wet lands, forest, ect… and the organisms that live there than all other so called enviromentalists groups combined!!

Hi Barbara, My two daughters saw one about a week ago while driving on our street. About four houses down from ours. crossing the road. They said it was about three feet long not counting the tail. Next day I went looking for tracks in fresh snow. I found two seperate sets. One smaller animal and one big one. Obviously the one they saw. I followed the larger set for about a half mile to a large old pine tree that had broken in half about fifteen feet up. I could see where it had hollowed out over the last few years. I do believe he lives in there, at least for now. I’ve been back a couple of times since. and he is still active in the area. I bring my camera hopeing to get some pics. The tracks are interesting in themselves. I can see where he stopped to investigate nooks and crannies around the upturned roots of wind fallen trees. I took pics of all the tracks he made. There was a spot where he sat down for a minute probably to scope the area for some unwitting squirrel. Two perfect front paw prints and two perfect rear prints pulled up close to eachother. Sitting like a cat sits. Last month there was a Turkey killed in my yard. I think I found the culprit. We have tons of turkeys up here. He ate everything but the feet and some feathers. I wish I could post these pics of tracks. They have pretty big feet for thier size. If you have some wildlife areas near you go check out tracks in the snow. It’s amazing how many animals are out there. Along with the fisher tracks I found lots of different Coyote tracks, Mink, Lots of Deer, Fox, Turkey of course, all in the same choke point where the woods narrow between two neighborhoods that abutt about a thousand acres of conservation land. It’s going to snow again this week and I will head out for more pics of tracks and hopefully an encounter. Thinking about getting a motion triggered game camera and setting it up where the highest concentration of tracks are. Oh Yeh, The first time I heard the Fisher banshee scream I was afraid to go out at night for a month. There is someone on this post that insists that they do not vocalize. My message is, You’ll know when you hear it. It’s that unique, and scary.

LOL.

The pic is a mink, not a fisher.

My friend told me about the killer fishers and i was really scare will in the woods when i was young

Last night we heard the exact scream that is recorded as a fishercat on YouTube. It was pitch dark and it was walking from yard to yard. We could see a shadowed image walking right down the middle of our street. It screamed over and over until it walked out of hearing range. This was 1:30 AM. At 3:30 am it came back up the street screaming again. Scariest sound I have ever heard from an animal.

I live in very thick woods in ct last winter I would here them screech and them walk through the snow I saw one trying to cross the road in march and my buddy saw one today coming home from the farm on his dirtbike in a trail they have gotten alot of my chickens

I have never seen or heard of a fisher cat until the other day. When I was in my teens, I would go hiking in the CT woods for hours and I never saw one of those. I saw deer, Coyote, turkeys, turtles, rabbits, raccoons, and fox but never heard of one or saw one. I camped up state NY and VT NH and ME deep in the woods no flush toilets, never saw one. It is almost like big foot to me. a mystery,

*heard

In the last two and a half weeks, three of my cats have gone missing. Has anyone heard of or spotted any Fishers in the Preston/North Stonington area? I have not heard any noises or screams to lead me to think it was a Fisher but three cats in such a short amount of time is crazy.

D, (from August 11),,, the big cat you encountered, based on your description, was most likely a bobcat,, I live in Chester and had one hanging around my backyard (lots of woods close by) about a year ago,, he (I assume it was a he because it was BIG) kept making appearances usually in the early dawn hours or evening,, I figured he was hunting my little cat and actually did go after her a couple of times but she was too quick and hid in some spots he could not get to her. Very interesting looking animal but did run right off if we went outside or let my lab loose.

AND Wendy,, there are plenty of fishers out in the N Stonington area, but if three cats go missing in a short period of time I would be looking for a coyote,, much more likely the culprit.

hi Bianca,, please e-mail me @ fisher5135@gmail.com,, I think you have a coyote problem, not so much a fisher cat.

We live in Ontario on the bank of the Muskoka River, right in town below the falls. In the last weeks, ourselves and neighbours on the same side have lost five pet cats…two were ours, one ten-year-old and our especial love, Murray, age 15, who never went off the property. Ours disappeared not at night, but during the late afternoon – Murray always stayed on our sidewalk or front porch, warming his elderly bones. A lady down the street is missing her Siamese now, and she tells us there are the remains of a kitty matching Murray’s description over the riverbank at the back of their property. This all made me want to buy a big shotgun at first, but the comment ShinyAeon, #36, made back in February really nailed it – so does anyone in Ontario reading this know if the Ministry of Natural Resources here will come out and set a trap for relocating this animal? We have other cats…they are our pets, not takeout pizzas for fishers in town. Our other cats are staying inside, yell, holler and complain though they may.

I live in East Hartford, CT and my husband and I were out side the other night and we saw this black ferret like animal walking or hopping like in the road. My neighbor seems to think it was a minx but my friend seems to think it is a fisher cat. What is the difference between the two?? Also should i have a non sloid fence in my backyard should i be worried about my 7 pound dog??

Warning to Massachusetts pet lovers… My 60 lb dog was attacked by a fisher a few days ago and just came home today after spending the past nights in the ICU of our local emergency veterinary hospital. (Waltham, MA)

Mike, the original photo was of a mink. After several people commented that it was a mink, they replaced the photo with the current one. I agree with everything else you say, however.

Sean, we must be soul mates! ;o) You are probably right, but if you are, the future is bleak for us, too. People seem to believe we can exist without wildlife, but, in fact, everything thing we use is ultimately derived from the natural world. Continued species extinctions means collapse of the ecosystem services on which we all depend: clean water, clean air, food production, flood control, drought mitigation, pharmaceuticals, disease prevention, etc. That is usually the angle I take when educating people about nature — I do realize that most people could care less about wild animals, but they do care about themselves. Incorporating ecology into the public school science curriculum is where it’s at. Most people who post here already have their minds made up, and it will not be possible to change them. I subscribe to blogs like this just so I can keep abreast of the sorts of nonsense people bandy about, regarding wildlife, and throw in a comment every now and again. Cheers.

Dear Stacey, what makes you so sure I haven’t suffered any losses due to wildlife? Over the years I have 3 beloved pets to wild animals, but I accept that as the risk of giving them some outdoor time to improve the quality of their lives. I guess I feel that these occasional losses pale in comparison to the suffering we inflict on billions of animals in industrial “farms”, medical research facilities, etc. Not to mention the annihilation of entire species due to our own greed and pollution.

I also know that wildlife benefit us in ways that are difficult to see on an immediate level, and that, like us, they do whatever they think is necessary to protect their own territories, food sources, and young. Therefore, I accept the risk and feel no need for revenge. I apologize if I seem to “scoff”, but I’m sick and tired of people who choose selfish ignorance over education. I guess there’s no point in arguing — if people are intent on destroying what’s left of nature, then so be it. I’ve enjoyed my time on earth, and it won’t be me who suffers. It will be future generations.

In no way am I saying that wildlife is to blame for Enzo’s misfortune and near death experience. In fact I truly cherish wildlife and the habitat in which they live.

Bear in mind that this personal occurrence is still quite fresh for me… so at the moment I’m battling personal feelings versus logic and life realities.

On the one hand you are entirely correct about humans invading the space of wild animals homes by building factories and complexes, tearing down forests for “our” own needs etc…

On the other hand I can’t help but be upset about this attack on my boy, in an area that is heavily populated and is not where fisher’s have been known to reside.

Unfortunately they have been spotted in my town more and more over the last couple of months…. cats have gone missing with only their tails being found etc… They seem to be getting more and more bold, and have attacked both pets and humans.

Enzo was romping through the woods at the Payne Estate in Waltham MA ( http://www.stonehurstwaltham.org/ ) when he was attacked…. an area that is kept well maintained and Always has a great deal of foot traffic by humans and dogs.

And to answer your question about the differences in these “cats” … Yes there are differences. Weasels are Significantly smaller than fishers… they are just bigger than rats with different coloring than fishers and martens . . . more yellowish on top with white-ish underbelly . . . an “otter cat” is not the technical name for an animal other than a jaguar type cat that is similar looking to a weasel or an otter.

The Marten is the closest to a Fisher, where Fisher’s are actually sometimes referred to as the north american marten.

Are you asking because of the potential for Enzo being attacked my something else and my mistaking it for a fisher??

Stacey, I think Sean was pointing out that fishers are in the weasel family, not the cat family, as the popular name would suggest. I am glad to hear of your love for wildlife. You are correct that fishers have been moving into more densely populated areas. But it is not really a range expansion; rather, it is a re-occupation of their former range. We humans drove them out of all but the northern limits of their range, by clearing forest for agriculture in the 1600s -1800s, and by over-trapping (for their beautiful pelts). Future generations came to think of them as creatures of the far northern coniferous forests, but in fact they originally ranged much further south, into mixed deciduous forests.

Now that most of New England is not used for agriculture and forest has reclaimed much of the landscape, fishers and other previously extirpated species are returning. But the “forest” in their former range is now fragmented and dominated by suburban development, so they are forced to either adapt to suburbia, or die. Naturally there will be conflict with humans and their pets. I see the return of the fisher and many other species almost as a miracle — a second chance for us to co-exist with a species we almost drove to extinction. I personally think this second chance is probably our last chance, because development is advancing so rapidly, that if we push them out of “our” land again, they will have no place to go.

I commented once before about an issue with this nasty creature, it seems to have been resolved. I had one of my cats go missing in Sept, when I was hearing and seeing the fisher, then I had the coyotes move in closer than they ever have for a few nights, alas, no more fisher, spooked off or dead I don’t know or care, but I have no more screaming fisher in my woods since. I love coyotes….

Last year I was riding my HD Road King along Birch Mtn Rd In Glastonbury when it was attacked by a Fisher cat ( just like the stuffed one in Cabelas). Cat came out of the woods and attempted to swat the front tire. Bent the front fender trim out 90 degrees. The rear wheel ran over the extended paw. Luckly I didn’t swerve and didn’t fall. I estimate the animal to be 30-36″ long probably weighed 20-40lbs. I didn’t stop but returned in the afternoon and did not find a body.

I caught a fisher in a live trap a few months ago. It was probably around 38 inches… Does anybody know if you can shoot a fisher in February? Thanks.

Hey There Damnedct,
I know what you mean, Writing articles related to your business is a great way to build your link popularity and also to provide more content for your site and other sites. Not too mention it’s always nice when someone finds your site and uses it within their newsletter.
Kindest Regards
Madge Ellison

2/9/12 Living in Somers,Ct. for many years I have seen abundant wildlife.Have had bear destroy birdfeeders because I didn’t bring them in like i should.I have pictures of one hoping to get to my feeder but i guess i scared him taking his picture. Had a fisher come thru the yard this morning.I am convinced that storm alfred has really screwed up the wildlife.Would enjoy any e-mail anyone would like to send.

well I live in 8beach lane cuddebackville and i’m in my living room and its 12:58 and I heard a cat it sounded like a kitten but I have 5 cats one is a kitten but i’m holding her and the other cats but then I heard a meow from a kitten and I heard it twice after PLEASE let me know if you know what that was

Regarding #88, Travis’s question about a meow sound he heard: There is absolutely no way that it could have been anything other than a fisher. Go outside and look up in the trees. If fishers are around, there will be body parts of large animals – horses, cows, perhaps even a child – stashed on the branches. But even if you see nothing like that, I’d say the meow sound is absolute proof of a vicious animal which puts you, your family, and cats in imminent danger, and you should evacuate the premises immediately. Good luck.

sean from question 75, and 87…. I just want to know if youve actually heard one yourself?
Im am an animal lover and I dont think that their the mass murderers that should be obvliviated but they most deffinately are murderous sounding screamers. I will be keeping my dogs in doors for now and taking them out the front on a leash till I know for sure its gone.

I find my own behavior as troubling as anything I’ve read here. Call it cognitive dissonance: I do not hunt yet I keep three cats, one of which “must” go out for an hour or two and I often cave to its insistence (but only mid-day, when its crepuscular instincts are at an ebb). And yes, this cat kills indiscriminately. By proxy, then, I am a threat to wildlife. Many moles, voles and chipmunks meet their demise each year due to my wish to give this cat partial freedom. Of course, the cat does not eat its hapless victims since it is so well nourished in the house. And sometimes it only engages in a catch and (bored) release game. But if it ever brings in an endangered songbird, I will be crushed.

I reside in a heavily forested, semi-rural farming and fishing town in southern New England. My home is surrounded by hundreds of acres of no-man’s-land-ish swampy woods, farms and former farms. Coyotes and fishers are common here now. One night a few year’s ago, one of my next door neighbor’s cats became coyote chow and others have gone missing since. In the last ten years, I’ve seen a steady decline in squirrels and, especially, rabbits. Yet during that time, the only harm to any of my five cats has been inflicted by other peoples’ pets. Before the three I keep now, I had two cats that were not particularly interested in hunting. One of them never caught anything it’s whole life. I always semi-monitored their outdoor time, trying to keep them on my lot. One morning, I let one out into the backyard where I could keep an eye on it while washing dishes. Because I had the water running and the storm windows were still on, I didn’t hear the barking right away; something moving up and down just behind a stone wall caught my eye. Two dogs were taking turns tearing into the cat’s belly. The cat was in shock and I rushed it to the vet only stopping to take pictures of the dogs which just happened to be high-fiveing each other down the road ahead of me.

I later homed in on the two dog owners, one of whom was very responsible, but that particular day the dog had escaped its enclosure presumably when the other, free-roaming one, egged it on. Both owners coughed up enough to pay for the two surgeries and the responsible one installed an electronic fence shortly thereafter. The free ranging dog was known in the neighborhood to sometimes exhibit its inner predator, even taking a few chickens at nearby farms.

Another time, while monitoring that cat’s brother on my back deck, I saw it streak by in one then the other direction, high tailing in advance of a large dog. This cat was very heavy, and to see it rocket up a tree to some twenty feet was alarming. Sure enough, with no horizontal branches within its reach, gravity prevailed and the cat landed on frozen ground so hard it limped for a year afterward. That dog had simply decided to accompany its owner’s neighbors who went out for a walk. These folks did not have any interest in how the dog behaved since it was not theirs. Later, trying to recoup the vet bills from this incident, the owner refused to pay, declaring she had lived for nineteen years in the neighborhood and no dog of hers had ever done such a thing. Besides, she said, her neighbor friends reported that the cat was “fine” after it fell from the tree. The cat was never right again after that, and I suspect internal organ damage contributed to it’s early death less than a couple years later.

These tales are in no way meant to downplay the threat of certain wild predators to our suburban lifestyles. I just wanted to add a different perspective to the multilog. It’s still a dog-eat-cat world no matter how benign we have lulled ourselves into thinking it is. And as culpable as I want to believe those dog owners were, it is solely MY irresponsibility that injured my pets as well as the wildlife whose niches I occupy.

There are a lot of really wacky stories on here, tails of fishercats attacking a car or a grown adult male…wacky and just about as unbelieveable as you can get. Yes, there are animals that break the size rules (google giant red Elk in England, those are for sure an anomaly)but 40 lbs for a fishercat??
I really dislike all of the, yes I’m going to say it, proaganda on this site especially, about how all “scary” wild animals should all be killed off, while house cats should be left to dessimate the local wild mouse, woodpecker and red-legged frog population in my back yard!! (LOL) The “local-yokel” methodology of story-telling, fear-mongering and flat out LYING needs to stop here.

If you think you have a problem with Fishercats or ANY large animal in your area, PLEASE call your local widlife specalist and don’t go looking online for stories and nightmares. The only people you can trust to understand the animals are the people that study and work with those animals, not those of us who troll the internet.

Nicole, did you take it to a wildlife official to have the weight confirmed? If not, you are just contributing to the fear and hysteria. I’m not surprised you thought the fisher was “bigger” than your 23 lb maine coon cat. Fishers are much longer than cats, and DEAD weight feels heavier than a living animal.

If all of you people are seeing giant fishers, then why aren’t trappers getting any of them (largest one on record was trapped in Maine and weighed 20 lbs, 2 oz.) ? If anything, the fishers that trappers get should be skewed towards the heavier end of the spectrum, because males are notoriously easier to trap than females. And why do wildlife trackers, like myself, continue to see only normal size fisher footprints? Hmm…something’s fishy.

…Oh another interesting note (that I didn’t see anyone mention). The smell of the dead animal was like that of a skunk’s musk. I’ve read that all Mustelids have this characteristic-kind of makes the lore even more frightening ha.

Cats make terrifying noises when they are terrified.

These things are simply vermin and no good to nature not to mention civilization. They must be made extinct one bullet at a time or trapped and shot or starved. This attitude to leave them alone to nature is the thinking of nit wits.

Skyguy, that’s quite an attitude you have re wildlife – or anything you happen to think of as “vermin”. I have observed over the years that a very small segment of the human population, for some reason, seems to have a personal, intense hatred for predators. Yet you – all of us – are the apex predator, so where does that leave you and us? “Leaving them alone to nature” is not “the thinking of nit wits” as you so innacurately describe, but rather those with a greater sensitivity and recognition of the term “biodiversity”. Exterminating a species, as you propose is an unacceptable solution, not that there needs to be a solution at all. Thankfully the vast majority of humans would reject your perspective.

mary beth, you have done a magnificent job with your accuracy and efforts to educate those who are needlessly fearful and for those who just don’t get it. Yes, fishers are wild animals and in the right combination of circumstances could potentially be dangerous, but keeping pets contained and monitored and by using a little common sense, they are an incredible addition to our wildlife population.

George, thanks for the compliment!

Time – I love your story. It is believable and your interpretation is reasonable. Foxes do “scream”, and I am convinced that many people who assume that a scream they heard was made by a fisher, actually heard a red fox. The vast majority who report these screams admit to never actually seeing the animal while it was vocalizing, and those that say they did see a fisher scream are usually not credible because their stories are embellished with other unbelievable details.

I think you’re right — the fisher could have killed the fox if it wanted to. But not without a fight. Better for the fisher to lurk and try to get the young when parents are away on a hunt.

Tim – The fisher’s claws are not retractable. Not fully retractable, anyway. In the relaxed state, the claws are visible, and a dead fisher’s claws do appear to be about the length of a dog’s claws, as Nicole describes.

I believe Nicole saw what she saw but dramatically over estimated the animal’s weight, despite her experience as a personal trainer and her familiarity with a 23 lb cat. Dead weight is true weight, as she says, but it feels heavier because a dead animal cannot adjust its position and distribute its weight when picked up, like a live cat does. If there were 30 lb fishers, as she estimates, we trackers would be seeing much larger tracks, and trappers would be capturing some of these giants. I’ve been tracking fishers for almost 10 years now, and none of the tracks I’ve seen have been larger than what I would expect for a fisher in the typical weight range of 5-15 lbs.

Mary Beth: My comment on retractable claws was based upon information in the species description at the top of this web page. If the Fisher does not have retractable claws, maybe Damned CT needs to correct the description.

Damned Wikipedia! Beware “facts.”

The CT-DEP site is mentioning Semi-Retractable…

http://www.ct.gov/dep/cwp/view.asp?A=2723&Q=326004

Wikipedia referenced an article by Powell, who is probably the world expert on fishers, as he studied them and other mustelids for many years. In the article, he says the claws are “retractable but less so than those of felids”. “Semi-retractable” would therefore be more accurate.

Steve, I am glad you posted this article and have allowed comments to continue. It’s great for people to share ideas, however, I do wish you would change this sentence:

“Fishers are also known for one of their calls, which is often said to sound like a child screaming”.

Fisher “screaming” may or may not be factual. In all his work with the species, Powell never reported anything like screaming. Nor have virtually all other biologists, trappers, and trackers who study them. I’ve managed to find only one reputable source that says male fishers may screech during territorial disputes.

Steve, you still make it sound like it is a fact that fishers scream. I have not been able to find any reliable source documenting it. Have you? If so, please enlighten. The youtube video you link to sounds like a fox to me, but you cannot see the animal, so we’ll never know for sure. Therefore your statement is misleading.

2 cents
I let my cat roam during the day. I know she hunts, mostly mice and the occasional squirrel. I brought her home mostly for that purpose. I live very rural and mice are a severe problem. We also understand that letting her out for this has made her part of the food chain. We discuss with our son quite often that one day she just may not come home, and that we could have her live much longer if we kept her inside. On that note we all agree, its the quality of her years not the quantity. She is loved by us, and she loves us likewise and we take precautions (call her in before twilight and not let her out till the sun is high). But please all, keep in mind as we do, if you let your pet into nature, they will become part of nature. With all its benefits and risks.

Last summer we heard the screaming sound outside our window night after night. We thought for sure it was a fisher. Then one night it walked right down our dark street screaming away. Very haunting eerie sound. To our surprise it was not a fisher. It was a red fox. We had no idea they made that kind of sound. I think something was wrong with him though because he would lay on the rocks down the hill in the evening during daylight and one day he was on our porch. He even tried to approach my husband on the yard. A neighbor said she heard noise in her yard one night and he was playing with her cat. Never saw it again after several weeks of it being around. So a fox can certainly be mistaken for a fisher scream.

I’m a wildlife biology student and the last year of my life has been spent researching fisher populations in NY. Im glad to say that Fisher are now repopulating their historical range. Fishers we all but extirpated from many areas of the Northeast in the last century. So, you moved into your neighborhood 20 years ago, when fishers were just starting their rebound and now your married with three kids, a cat, and a white picket fence. Suddenly a wild animal who for thousand upon thousands of years before you, has inhabited the area where you decided to buy your home, and you want them out of the picture? Does anyone realize how ridiculous that is? That’s completely ignorant, unfair, and down right disgusting. I mean really, complaining about wildlife near your home? I suppose that’s the fault of the wildlife, not the parasitic species known as the human race, populating every corner of the globe, destroying every habitat they encounter, and in doing so ruin the natural order of the world. Look, we have to find a way to co-exist with fishers and all other carnivores with a bad reputation. You can’t take away/build a home in their habitat and then complain about them trying to survive. If they had somewhere else to go believe me they would, fishers are known as one of the most secretive and elusive animals in north america, traditionally living in the deep woods. If you want to be proactive in maintaining a health fisher population go take a trappers safety course and get out there and start trapping them legally. You might learn something about what life is really about if you spent some time in the forest taking in nature.

I think damnedct has found its official mascot! Long Live the Fisher!

One night I heard a noise like this too, Fahgeddaboudit, it sounded like some dame was getting her ticket punched or something, the next morning when I woke up, my old lady was missing. Oh well, at least I know there aren’t any of these fisher things in my yard. Mannaggia, It would be a terrible tragedy if they was to wack one (or all) of my wifes beloved pet cats!

Ooooooooohhhhhhh!!! Thank god your friend saved the adorable, little baby deer cause god knows there’s not enough deer in Ct. What have you seen it kill? A mouse, a squirrel? What? They don’t scream

Because, it was up the tree above me and startled me! I do not know what it was chewing up but I can assure you it was making a wrethced sound! a Screaming noise at first I thought it was hurt. I could see it plain as day out the kitchen window it was on the grass by the tree line it wasnt even 20 feet so I could see it just fine. And yes The poor Baby Doe, it wasnt but a few days old! also to complain about Deer, Sean there arent a 1/3 of the deer here then where I am from. I dont mind the deer as long as they stay out of my horse feed. Fisher’s have a job and a place in New England and that is to eat Porcupines and other little creatures to keep them off the hwy’s and road ways.

Ever see a male deer taken by a pack of coyotes? I swear they all went for the testicles first. They ate it alive. Nature is not humane in the least. And humans are part of nature, we are acting as we were designed, evolution doesn’t make mistakes that last, and if we end up killing ourselves on the world then we too will become extinct.

“Well if you can change, and I can change then…..everybody can change” ROCKY 4.

Dusty, Well said! I like you! and Yes the wildlife agent that came over to the neighbors had told us that if the Fisher cat, continues to be a bother we could re contact thier dept and they would come trap and remove it to a better location.

I feel the same as Dusty but only in a totally opposite direction. Its the over populating humans who are making things crowded here on this planet. When will everyone realize that getting married does no automatically mean you have to start bringing all these kids into this already over populated world. What happens in 50 or 100 years from now? there wont be anything left to hunt or eat, no more clean water to drink, no more room for expansion. And its all because everyone feels like they need to make babies. Hey Dusty, why not live trap the neighbors and make hats out of them? youd actually be doing more good for the planet than killing the animals. And to those of you who are upset about your cat getting eaten, dont declaw it first off, its mean and takes away its only defense and its painful and akin to having your fingertips pulled off from the first knuckle. Secondly: Dont let your animals roam and stop it withthe rediculas underground fences, that possibly the dumbest thing ever invented! your dog cant leave but other animals (kids) can come in and get bit or bite your pet. Stupid!

No forums can remain civil if politics become part of the discussion; I offer as People’s Exhibit #1 Dusty’s post, which turned an issue-based discussion into yet another “those damn libbrals” rants with no real point.

Ban overt political discussion here. There are millions of forums overrun by pointless political bickering. Not here!

LOL! Good mary beth! Dusty is long gone by now…and he certainly showed us….he’s not coming back for rebuttal! Bet he takes a little peek, though 😉
When he wrote >>”Those of us that believe in hunting, trapping or fishing do the lion’s share of the actual, useful work in managing the actual wildlife in this country”<< I knew what we were dealing with and I'll respond the way I usually do to this rhetoric: Exactly what "work" do you do, Dusty? Oh, I see, you "manage" wildlife. Is that for wildlife's benefit – or yours??

i think considering the topic, we can safely say we are talking scat?

I have a Fisher Cat screaming outside my door right now, and I don’t want him here. I claim my small little piece of this earth, just like many other animals claim theirs. He will be trapped and relocated. The rest of “my” acres are for whatever wants to live there.
It is really interesting how much misinformation there is out there about Fishers. Fishers do scream, and when they’re mating it’s like a really loud cat fight, very different from Fox, and Coyotes mating. They do eat cats, yeah, I’m sure. If they find an easy food source, they are going to hang around until it is gone.
I grew up in a big city, and moved to the country, (very rural, on a beaver pond-which is awesome!). I had certain opinions coming from the city, and learned the reality of nature by living in it, and by talking to other folks who live in it. Among a million other things, I now understand the value of hunting, look it up, if you are actually interested. I value the information given by the folks here who have learned from experience the behaviors of Fisher Cats they have encountered, and took the time to share.

I’ve heard all the scary stories of the Fishercat and have always been terrified. I have lived in Lyme for 5 years and we have a pair that live behind our garage. I thought of trapping them, November 1 through 30, but then again, they take care of the mouse, squirrel and chipmunk problem. We also have no racoons, skunks or oppossums. They do scream. They enjoy having their conversations in my driveway about 10 every night during the spring to early summer. Sometimes it is playful and other times it is down right obnoxious, loud and frightening. I’ve seen them during the day just taking a casual stroll down the driveway and then going into the woods. I’m careful to close my dog door at night, do not leave trash outside and make sure my cat is safe. I have yet to loose a pet to a Fisher. They are a beautiful creature, from afar. I just wish they were polite neighbors!

We recently lost 7 turtles out of our little turtle pool to a fisher cat. Apparently it was smart enough to pry the night time cover off, and basically had a nice midnight snack. It chewed the head off one turtle, left an empty shell of another, and the rest were entirely gone. I am reasonably sure it was a fisher because our neighbor saw it crossing the street. We’ve had our turtles out in our back yard in spring and summer for over 10 years and never a problem until now. Horrifying. Our last survivor is only out now in broad daylight and comes into the house in the evening. I know this is just nature doing what it does, but losing our pets was heartbreaking and we have learned a painful lesson.

Minks live in Coastal Connecticut. Female Fisher Cats are the same size and color as minks. I have seen dead minks. Confirmed.

In my town, people are buzzing about Fisher Cats. But the fact is, they do not live in water a. Minks like watery areas.

So I am skeptical of reports of Fishers on the shoreline.

Sue-
You betcha! These vermin will attack a grown man if it could get away with it…way I see it ain’t no creature created by Our Lord would be safe with these devils. Please protect your pony! I wish I had been warned before I lost some of my dearest pets to a very violent death. You have the opportunity to protect yours… Best of Luck and God Bless

My wife and I live in Lebanon Connecticut… Just experienced the screaming of a fisher cat. We were in the yard with the kids and it sounded like a woman getting murdered coming from the woods… My friend dave was visiting and witnessed the screaming as well… So we ventured into the woods to see what the heck was going on… At first I thought someone had lost their pet monkey, because this thing moved fast and it was very dark and surprisingly large. We got closer and Dave pointed out its arched back …. It was clear that it was a Fisher cat…. A YouTube video of a screaming fisher was identical to what we heard… I’m a 31 year old grown man. I walked towards that thing with fear as if I was in a horror movie. I just can’t believe that it is some sort of urban myth about the screaming. Fisher cats definitely scream…

Ha ha ha! you all are so gullible. Yes, it is I, the great Fisher Cat from CT!!! Yes, i scream in the night, its what i do…I have night terrors, so screw you all! I will eat your kitties of i can catch them..most times, I am too slow, they can out run me 90% of the time. I can be identified by my arched back (like a coon) and my lumbersom gait (like a skunk) in fact, alot of people will often see a coon in the night and mistake it for me. im here to ask you, DO I LOOK LIKE A COON? I am brown, not grey, I dont have a mask and Im not as big!!! sa for my supposed screaming heard all over the place, every night… Did you know, there are 100’s more Coyotes in the state than Fishers? (Oh yeah, i am NOT a Fisher Cat, I am a Fisher damn it, get it right!) Did you know, when a coyote makes a kill, or during a kill, or even in a fight or during sex, it will make a “Scream like a women being killed” ? Another screamer is the cute little bunny rabbet (yum!!!) when a rabbit is being mauled to death, it will scream like a crazy human posting on a fisher cat forum! So, before you go and put the blame on me for every missing pet, pony, human, car, bank robbery… fraud….what ever you humans like to blame on me… remember, if you dont know, dont preach! Also, to the woman with the sick pony, i wont go near something that big but a couple hungy coyotes might…MIGHT! Id say stop posting here and call a vet. Also, Like I said, I dont chase my prey, I sit and wait for it to come to me.. so you wont see me running after fluffy the kitty, you wont see me “Dart” away, you will see me, wobble off like some stew bum on a bender.
– The Fisher.

Good one Fisher…

I’ve heard strange unrecognizable screams in the night for years – the first time we heard it we thought it was an animal snagged in a trap or something – my fiancé sent me out in the middle of the night to look for an animal in distress. Just this past weekend – I actually saw one running along the side of the road. I’ve been stomping the woods since I was a kid and didn’t have a clue as to what it was. My first thought was a Wolverine – after checking my facts – I discovered we didn’t have Wolverines in NY. I did some more searching and discovered it was a Fisher. I found some You-Tube videos and immediately recognized the sound as that which I have been hearing around my home for years. I’m over in Sullivan County NY.

The encounter made my day…

Why anyone would want to kill them all is beyond me. They belong here just as much as we do. (actually more than we do if you consider the fact they we took the land from the natives. Generally they will be as afraid of us as we are them. hello people we are far to big for them. wanting to kill them off is an immature attitude to possess. simply co-exist. You don;t want you pets to become dinner than damn it keep them inside. (it’s where they belong any how. House cat implies I live in the house. Not outside it. Think about that. use your common sense and stop wanting to mean to these animals. YES the screams at night did scare me the first I heard them. but.. I am not afraid of them.

Folks come to this site to share experiences, and look for more information on Fishers. Noble goal, concidering the lack of Fisher info out there. The rest of you need to stay on your meds, and go to a different site with those of your kind.
After having that Fisher (#150), hang around for a few nights, screaming in the woods, and one night actually pacing back and forth in my driveway!! screaming, he moved on. No food here. I got a very good look at him, while he was screaming. I yelled at him, the way you would chase away a bear, to no effect. I was very, careful about getting the cat in every night, (not feeding him during the day, and giving him the good stuff, to get him in at night), and not letting the dog out when she smelled Fisher, and wanted to protect our home area, (didn’t want a vet bill). Having a dog usually keeps most critters away from your doorstep, it’s a territory thing, but not the Fisher. He is a ballsy and aggressive animal.

My dog is a Rottie/Shepard mix, she’s a sweetie, but has that protector, gladiator, thing going on. She did not like that Fisher hanging around. I’ve seen her encounter skunk, porcupine, squirrels bore her, the bear was a curiousity, frogs are fun. The growl coming out of her was serious, and threatening. She spent those days when the Fisher was around, patrolling the house, and guarding the cat, high alert. One of the ways I knew the Fisher had moved on, was that her behavior changed. I was so impressed with the Fishers aggressiveness that I didn’t want to chance letting her out, she’s never been in a fight before. Better safe, than sorry, ya know?

I will be honest and only read the first 40 or so posts, but I can tell you that last night I saw with my own eyes and heard with my own ears a fisher cat screaming. I watched it for about 5 minutes while it came out from behind a neighbors house, walked across another neighbors property and then around the back of that house back into the woods. (About 20 seconds before it made it’s appearance the neighborhood black cat came running out of the same area). We just moved into a rather rural area that is bordered by a few hundred acres of woods. I have seen coyote tracks and deer tracks, seen turkeys and fox back there. I had never heard a fisher cat before and both my fiance and I were wondering what the noise was. And then we saw it and heard it. If I had known there was no video of it, I would have taken some as it was clear as day and very close. All I can say is the sound is exactly what I heard on the youtube soundclip I googled for fisher cat noises, just much louder and closer than the one in the soundclip.

Rob from RI: Which sound clip was it like? Can you post the link? I ask because there are many different sound clips posted and assumed to be coming from a fisher. Some are clearly other species, such as barred owls or red foxes, so I would love to know which clip matches what you heard.

Also, are you sure it was not the cat making the noise? You could see the animal while it was vocalizing and were sure it was not the cat?

Anne, barred owls and foxes do not sound at all alike. The so called fisher sounds posted on the web that I have heard are identifiable as either owl or fox. I really think in most cases people are assuming that what they have heard is a fisher, because they saw a fisher in the area at one time or another, when in reality the sounds are made by something else. Most of these people seem to have little experience with, and knowledge of, wildlife. Sometimes the stories are embellished with unbelievable details, so I am skeptical.

I spend a lot of time in the woods, have been tracking fishers for years, and have never heard one “scream”. I am not the world’s expert on fishers, but as far as I know, the world’s experts on fishers agree that they do not scream. I see in some of the comments that people poo-poo the words of scientists, but frankly, the latter are the ones who have been studying them for years both in the wild and in captivity, and publish their findings in peer reviewed journals, not just on the web, so I put more trust in their words.

I did find passing mention by one scientist that male fishers “scream” during territorial disputes, but I would expect that to occur too rarely to account for the many reports we see on the internet (most of which are easily identifiable as another species anyway).

All of that said, most studies on fishers were done in the far north, where they exist at lower density than what we now have here in New England. It is certainly possible that some fisher behaviors and vocalizations are more or less common here, where conditions are different.

I don’t mean to be dismissive of your, or anyone else’s, word, but I do not automatically take them at face value, because there have been too many dramatic reports about wildlife from the public that turn out to be something much less exciting. For example: reports from people who are absolutely certain they saw an enormous feline that must be a cougar, where the tracks left by the animal indicate something no larger than a house cat.

Mary Beth… Frankly, you are just completely wrong. I think you and other “professionals” need to spend a little more time in the woods. I work with professional people all day long who are proven wrong on many occasions…. Fisher cats scream. That’s all there is to it. I’ve seen it with my own eyes and so have many others. Maybe it will be a lesson learned for you…. Professionals are just people like the rest of us. They are wrong sometimes. As are you.

Had a doctor diagnose me with herpes of the eye once…. Confused and depressed I went home with a prescription for valtrex…Come to find out, it was just a piece of metal irritating and making my eye swell up…

Mary Beth, Thanks for the territory info. Sorry, I totally agree with Scott. You will change your tune when you hear one scream………….won’t you? Maybe not. The “professionals” Scott talks about denied there were moose and wolves in western Ma for years, and years. What would people mistake a moose for…..a cow? I don’t think so. I followed a younger moose down a dirt road, there is no mistaking a mooses gait, very entertaining, lol. Just like fishers, fox, and owls, sound different from each other, “coydogs”or coyotes and wolves look different. I lived in the woods for 20yrs, I’ve seen a wolf 1 time. I had a family of Fishers hanging out for 2yrs, I lost 9 cats, other neighbors lost cats, bunnys, and chickens. This was very different than our experience before the fishers came, so yes, we blamed the fishers. This was when I heard the fishers mating, and then heard the vocalizations after the babies were born. 7 years went by, and I had my most recent experience, where he was pacing in my driveway, and screaming. My point is even people who live in the woods may not see or hear some of these animals regularly. I have to ask…………do you live in the woods? Where are you getting your information? Books, web, experience? You come off as an authority, just think what it would do for your reputation to be the one who records/videos a fisher cat screaming!

Anne, how do you know they were mating?

mary beth-hostile? what would you call that diatribe after Dusty asked a question, and much to his dismay, found you & co. You are very condescending, and you turn people off. If you think you know everything, you will never learn.

Anne: What? The only “Dusty” I saw is the guy who left an obnoxious, insulting post a while back, and then disappeared. Did I miss a comment by some other Dusty?

Thank you for the feedback on how you experience my comments. I am not trying to give the impression that I know everything, but I do have some experience and knowledge of fishers. I was just trying to share information when you asked about territory, etc. If you took it as me saying I know everything, that is useful feedback, and I will be more careful in the future when wording comments.

I think I’ve tried to say numerous times, that I am perfectly willing to consider that fishers scream, but I just want proof. This is an animal I’ve been interested in for years, and think myself that the New England population might really be different in some ways than other populations. It would be fascinating to get proof of screeching.

Does that sound condescending? I apologize if it does. I have appreciated all of your comments and hope you continue to take an interest in wildlife. Best wishes.

Hey all, there’s no such thing as a fisher cat. It’s kind of like saying there’s a blue whale cat. It’s for ignorant, anti-predator, small-penis men that feel they have to protect their women. A weasel being a threat to a horse, please! That’s right – a weasel!! A fisher is a weasel. A bullhead has just as much cat in it. Wolves in Ct.? That’s a good one. A vocal animal that lives in packs in a populated state that’s only seen by people that know less than nothing about natural history. People also see water moccasins in Ct. even though they don’t live anywhere near there. Milk snakes are commonly killed because they’re mistaken for Copperheads which are in Ct. but not common. What should be killed are feral cats. READ A FUCKING BOOK!!! I know george bush might not approve but you can learn a lot about natural history. It’s easy to spread fear through the right-wing religious assholes.

We have 6 cats all rescue pets, and about 10 years ago the M.N.R. (ministry of natural resources) introduced the fisher into Ontario to keep the porcupine population under control, without asking any of our permission!! The very wealthy summer resident’s in the Muskoka cottage country area were complaining that their decks and porches were being eaten and destroyed by the porcupines, and well you know in every country MONEY TALKS!!! So now the
Fishers have run out of porcupines,and raccoon’s, they are indeed eating whatever they can catch. It’s not their fault, man brought them into this new environment and they just follow their instincts. anything they can catch is fair game, and now we will never safely be able to control them. I found this website because we heard spine chilling screams on our mountain across the road last night, and we had to try and find out what it was. Our cats were all wanting to stay in the house last night and we will keep them in until this fisher moves on.

I too, wish you took a pic of it alive…this dead thing looks like a cat maybe. Not calling you a liar, just that to me, it looks like a cat. Seems alot less fury (esp. the tail) than the pic at the top of this article. But anyhow, like I said, it looks like a cat TO ME, could be a fisher, I wasnt there. Thanks for the post though, at least SOMEONE was thinking!!!

Umm – err – ahh – Fishers roamed this country long before “man” ever thought about coming here. Fishers=Indigenous/Native/Belong Here – – – Cats=Feral/Non-Native/Brought by “man”.

Rob – thank you! The recording you linked to sounds like a red fox barking. Check out this video, where, starting at about 57 seconds, you can actually see the fox barking:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irk6acsIyyU

Spoodoo, I agree with you 100%. Because there is already abundant proof that foxes commonly make these noises, I would assume fox, unless proven otherwise with a video.

Rob, you might be right, both fisher and fox might have been present, and you saw the one but heard the other. That would be my guess too. There are so many recordings of these barks where you cannot see the animal, and people just assume fisher. Yet in all of the recordings where you can see the animal making the noise, it is a fox. It is possible that fishers make similar sounds, and if that is the case, someone will eventually get it on video….

Lollll kind kute 🙂

Hey weasel Man Dan,

This lady found a way to deal with her fisher problem.

http://fhotd64476.yuku.com/topic/30615/Death-of-the-embodiment-of-Evil?page=1

Second hand stories are always so colorful..

are you sure it wasa fisher? Fox and coyotes can make horible screaming sounds too

PS, Pardon the spelling mistakes in my post 9/29/12. M.

1000 fisher stomachs were examined in nh in the mid 70’s, 1 had cat hair. They eat small mammals and carrion so fishers may be eating cats but the vast majority of the cats are road kill or was previously attacked by a fox or coyote.

Wow, you guys are pretty entertaining. First of all, why is it that all of you are entitled to your points of view, but Mary Beth is not? All she is saying is that she is very interested in these animals and would love to hear it for herself as proof that it exists. Just because you few say it is so, it MUST be so, correct?!?! Now, before you all gang up on me too, I have never heard it, but I tend to believe it is true. I personally, don’t have to hear it for myself to believe it’s a possibility. That’s what makes us all different.

As for those of you with kitties that you let run around outside. They DECIMATE the wildlife populations and mostly for fun, not food. They are your well fed ‘pets’. You may think they need to hunt and to roam because it is instinctual, but it is not a need for them. They are perfectly content to become lap kitties as well. Don’t go all ‘let’s gang up on her’ mentality on me too, I see the effects of cats on the wildlife population every, single day as a wildlife rehabber. I’m not a tree hugging, anti-hunting, let’s save all the butterflies type of person, but I’d have a whole lot more time on my hands and get more sleep at night if it wasn’t for people allowing their cats to roam free. My very favorite thing is when a cat owner brings me a degloved bunny and shoves it into my hand in front of their child demanding that I ‘fix’ it. Guess what?!?! There is NO fixing it. I get the lovely task of euthanizing it to put it out of it’s misery while you go on with your merry little life thinking you’ve done some great deed by ‘saving’ the bunny that YOUR cat killed. Oh, and don’t even think about leaving a donation to help me care for it if by some miracle I CAN save it, noooo don’t do that!! Also, just having a puncture wound from a cat means anti-biotics because of the many bacteria that a cats mouth harbors.

More importantly, cats are not only predators, but they are also predated. For those of you who may be particularly slow, that means, everything bigger than they are wants to eat them too. If you truly loved your pet, you would keep them safe and sound inside with you because while you think you’re doing them a service by allowing them to roam and hunt, chances are, they spend most of that time fending for their own lives and not just by wildlife, but domestic dogs as well.

post #208-Tim, absolutely agreed!

LOL, I figured since we are telling galactic class tall tales I would spin some galactic class puckey as well! I am also the number 1 rated realtor in the world for Arizona Atlantic coast beach front property and bridge sales, as well as- until recently- the foremost lumber cutter in all of the Sahara Forest; of course I worked myself out of business for most of you now only know it as the Sahara Desert. But my heart belongs mostly to breeding pink spotted albino, sterile,mute, Brazillian Fishers in under 2 weeks- about which I am currently publishing a book along with a comprehensive 512 chapter thesis on confirmed cases of Fisher vocalization.They will be available 100% gratis with 50% off, Look for it in the FICTION section of your local DunkinBucks coffee stores.

Raccoon Mom, The Kodiak thanks you for your kind offer and I have shamed the hampster into a most heartfelt apology for its wanton lack of manners and anger management skills. the two of them are currently discussing, in a civil manner, where they can improve their friendship skills over tea and scones with plans to form a support group for grossly misrepresented animals. They wish t make it known that all North American Fishers are welcome and encouraged to attend.

i luv fishers they are sooo adorable

what i dont ubder stand there has been a few attacks here in RI just the orther day two little boys were attack by a fisher cat it is pretty bad when poeple are afraid to let there kids out side to play the towns should do some thing about this its just not safe for kids to be out side playing our kids cant even be at a school bus stop i say all the towns should get together and do some thing to get rid of these fisher cats

Where are these alleged attacks happening? I looked it up and a woman in RI was attacked in her yard when a Fisher went after her DOG. SHE chose to kick at a wild animal with bare feet. I understand the desire to protect your dog, but you can’t go on a witch hunt for a wild animal because one woman didn’t have an ounce of common sense. The attack at the bus stop was ONE boy in 2009, unless there was a more recent incident that hasn’t made it to local news media? ROFLMAO Fishers are not ‘waiting to attack anything even humans. That’s ridiculous. It’s not like it’s a daily occurrence. You have a better change of dying because of a lightening strike. Get a grip people.

idk but more and more are being attacked by fishers in Ri just the orther day another little boy got attacked by a fisher out where i live poeple are affraid to let there kids in there back yards to play we never had this in the city of Ri

None of these ‘alleged’ Fisher Cat attacks in Rhode Island have made the news. I highly doubt the validity of these statements. There have been TWO confirmed attacks as listed above. TWO. If they were happening on a regular basis in Providence or anywhere else in the USA, it would be making at the very least, local news stations. Of course if someone saw ‘there _____ being attacked by a fisher” I’m assuming you meant child, of course any parent would try to protect their child. But hey, if Obama gets his way we’ll be unarmed with no way to protect our child from such horrific dangers such as frenzied wildlife attacks!!! I think we have WAY bigger things to worry about in the world than rampaging Fisher Cats!

My neighbor across the street pulled one off of his dog last night. He was in his front yard and his dog ran over to the neighbors yard next door. He then heard the screaming of the fisher cat and ran over there. The fisher cat had the dog’s whole face and throat covered. The dog couldn’t bark. He tried kicking it off the dog and when that didn’t work, he had to pry it’s jaws apart. It’s a medium sized dog, but only about 6 mo. old. After he got the fisher off the dog, he covered the dog with his body and the fisher cat ran away. Both man and dog had to go to hospitals for rabies shots and their cuts cleaned up.

I would probably help my dog (if I had one) if it was struggling with a fisher, and would probably suffer scratches and bites, but I would not feel we therefore need to annihilate the remaining fisher population, nor even kill just the attacking animal. It is instinctive to protect your own – I once pulled a hawk off one of my chickens with bare hands – it was like a reflex, I did not think about it, I just did it. In that case, I did not get even a scratch, as the hawk appeared totally shocked to have a human pull it from its prey! And no, I did not attempt to kill the hawk, had no wish for its death, and no anger over what it did. Nor did I feel any need for revenge when a fox successfully snatched one of my chickens. There are risks to whatever you do in life, but the benefits of wildlife far outweigh those risks, IMO.

Saw one in my backyard at 6am the other day was going to put the dog out. Freeked me out

If these animals are regularly showing up in suburban neighborhoods, something is attracting them and it’s probably not just the neighborhood kitties. People must be leaving out cat or dog food, etc. Wild animals are opportunists. They’re not going to expend precious energy hunting or foraging when they have a free supply of food. Remove the food, and they will move onto other places in search of it. If you have an issue in your neighborhood, talk to your neighbors to make sure everyone is doing their part to stop attracting them. If you are putting your dog or cat food away at night and they are not; they are making the issue worse. People think they must leave food out day and night for their dogs and cats. No you don’t. They’ll eat during the day if you feed them then. Bring the food in at night. Secure garbage cans, etc. These wild animals are mostly nocturnal and if you’re not feeding them, they’ll move on.

Cassie – I have no doubt that they’d eat a house cat if presented with the opportunity. I also have no doubt that a small dog would be tasty as well. I’d be kind of freaky to see one, but I’d love to nonetheless. It’s not very common really.

Hey Im getting sick of being blamed for all your missing cats and dogs and livestock! There are other, more abunndant preditors around here you know… Coyote, Bob cat, Hawks, Eagle, Fox, even those PITA Raccoons! Stop blaming it all on me!! Besides, my main diet is small creatures, not cats and dogs… or humans. Leave me alone dangit!

Oh Gail, believe me I know. Around these parts, we have coyote hunts, ‘just because’. They don’t even have to be bothering livestock or anything, they can just be killed on site for fun. They get the blame for the lower deer populations here, but most people don’t realize that VT doesn’t allow fawn rehabilitation because of an unreasonable fear of chronic wasting disease. Their arguments are unrealistic, but they refuse to allow them to be rehabbed. When Fish and Wildlife tells callers to leave fawns on the side of the road to starve to death it’s all blamed on the coyotes when it’s the agencies fault, not the poor coyote.

I am inundated by the problems left behind by irresponsible pet owners and those that advocate TNR programs. I love cats and have two of my own, but those programs do nothing except make a few humans feel better about themselves by allowing them to think they’re making a difference. The problem is they trap, neuter and release, but those animals are still going hungry, they are still preying upon wildlife and they are being preyed UPON. They are still the carriers of all sorts of diseases because even in the best circumstances vaccinations only last up to three years. Then what? They start the cycle all over again?

I’mthefishercat – PITA Raccoons? Really? They’d have to be pretty quick or hungry to take down neighborhood cats and dogs….lol Not too mention, they’d rather share the food bowl with them than eat them.

We had one living under our barn , was not aware of it being there but knew something was killing off the Red Squirrels and other critters that had the misfortune of coming into the area.. we could hear the awful screams..
One day I looked out and the Fisher was dragging it self up our driveway.. it had been hit by a car and was trying to get to the barn.. I had my husband get out the 22 and put the thing out of it’s misery .. Since then I’ve seen Fisher tracks in the snow around our place and it’s screams.. but we are over run with Gray squirrels.. so it’s not doing it’s job!

Monday 8:05 AM March 18, 2013 – we live in Lyme and have EVERYTHING going through our backyard. Coytes, red and grey foxes, bob cat, a few years back a bear, sometimes turkeys, deer, bunnies (almost all gone now due to predators), and YES Fisher Cats.

Last year there was a quick female Fisher Cat after a squirrel up a tree – squirrel got away.

JUST NOW A HUGE MALE! Walking and looking at our bird feeder were the squirrels and birds chow down. He was looking at the house and in no hurry. I ran outside and hollered because I have just ONE feral cat show lived on the back deck in her heated house. All the other ferals are GONE!

I know my animals having grown up on a large CT farm when all we had were woodchucks and sometimes a red fox. However, I have always read many books of animals from around the world, so I KNOW what I saw and had a good estimate of his weight. He was the size (bearing in mind he was still in prime pelt) of a Sheltie – tall, broad, burly, dark with lighter color tan on chest. Looked like a long legged Wolverine, but with a big tail! Looked very well fed. All our bunnies have disappeared these last several years. Deer and turkey are fewer than a few years ago. Predators making inroads on the fawns, hence fewer adult deer. Same with turkeys. We have a huge state forest in the back yard, so everything lives there.

PS – My sister saw two red tail hawks mating in a high tree in the yard.

April 3, 2013-There is a fisher cat in our neighborhood. my friend saw it in a tree twice in the past 3 weeks. The squirrels (used to be at least a dozen or so at any one time) are all gone. I saw the fisher under my car last week while I had my 2 dogs out on leash. They were going crazy trying to get at him. He just stayed under the car then took off behind the garage. Now this afternoon I spotted a dead cat in my neighbor’s back yard. This is getting scary and creepy. I wish he would move on to somewhere else. I have small dogs and i’m afraid to take them out at night. Is there something I could put in the yard that would deter him from coming around without hurting any other animals? What can I do????

THAT is a FISHER IN THE PICK….NOT A MINK….THE FEET ARE TO LARGE and the fur is grizzly in the pick..trust me I see them and have caught them…and yes the female fisher have a whit patch of fur under their chin like a wild mink does…..they eat all types of squirrls and are fast in the trees when chasing squirrels…they also are the only north American critter that can kill and eat a porky…..they will eat smaller cats in a surbubia area….and yes they do scream …very creepy sounding……..

I live across from a field/farm. We woke up at about 2 am last fall. We thought a girl/teenager was screaming in distress outside the window. We were getting ready to call the police, but I realized the scream was pretty much the same and continued for about a half an hour. No words just the same scream every 5 minutes or so.
Does anyone have link to the sound that a fox makes?

I live in Ellington Ct and last night, my Siamese cat gave a Fisher cat a run for it’s money. She took apretty good beating but she lived to tell. These fisher’s are awful…. It paced up and down the street screaming as it looked for her. She had hid under the table on the back porch, it had taken a pretty good bite out of her side. Is there a way to trap these things?? I plan on keeping her in from now on….but I’m worried about my dogs.

It pretty unavoidable shyla, they drop from trees, hide in swimming pools and mimic the appearance of you pets in order to get close to you.

Just saw a fisher cat carrying off an adult rabbit. I guess everybody has to eat, but I wish they would pick on something a little less cute and fuzzy 🙁

The DEP isn’t your problem, the natural world is. Fishers range throughout New England and reintroduction or no, they would have found their way back to your area in any case. As for any real impact on other species in your area, even of your assertion is true, they will rebalance. Coyotes have moved back in force all on their own, and are a hell of a lot harder on pets than the fishers.

It’s too bad so many in New England are so far detached from the natural world that they can’t simply appreciate the opportunity to share the landscape with as many native species as possible. I say let the fishers, coyotes, and black bears roam. Oh, and yes, even large owls will take small pets left out at night. So just don’t leave them out.

@Scott,
You may want to research the Yellowstone buffalo issue and learn about the sustainability of buffalo and cattle per acre. The reintroduction of Bison into YS has caused sustainability problems for the Bison. Their survival in YS would not be possible at the current population level without a supplement food source being provided. And by the way the narcissistic hypocrites are providing the hay bales. As far as F-Cats. Most of us with opposable thumbs have evolved to the top of the food chain. Sorry if that position offends you. As far as being “totally irresponsible with our own reproductive rates” I agree, let’s start with free Vasectomies and tie the tube of all welfare recipients. Minimally put them on birth control

@Dan 4:41 pm
I get about the coyotes, and other predators. The hunting seasons or trapping season for FC’s is designed to keep the population in check or in balance with what is sustainable. The coyote population in our area is on the rebound for sure. A decline in hunting and available land to hunt on has in part lead to the rebound. In RI the FC season is controlled as a “Fur Bearer” and only 22 days long, usually Dec1-22nd. Coyote on the other hand is 365 days a year with no bag limit and we are not keeping up at all. I Have hunted all over the country, and Coyote are a detriment to livestock out west no so much here. I have seen firsthand on a farm in South Dakota 11 dead lamb from coyote in one night. They kill and eat 1 or 2, then they kill to teach their pups how to hunt. Its natures natural selection and survival. I fall into the same selection except I’m the top of the food chain and my kids can shoot a coyote at 110yrds with a 22Mag all day long. I teach then natural selector as in from “Safe” to “Fire”

Dan I hunt for food as well. It is fun spending days and hours in the woods, that part for me is like therapy. I am part American Indian, so please don’t confuse me anyway with a person who kills for sport. I am a meat hunter and I eat what I hunt. I kill coyote on my property as it helps me manage the other wild life including upland game, whitetail. I trap the FC’s during the season as a management tool for upland game and Turkey. Most would be shocked at what a rebound the turkey and Ring neck have had since I’ve been trapping FC’s We trap beaver on the farm too but that’s for resource management. They built a pond where I don’t need on or ever was one.

I saw a sopping wet weasel like mammal exiting the snowy banks of my Koi pond this morning in New Canaan, CT. After a quick visit to Google I found that this cagy character may be none other than the infamous “Jack the Fisher Cat” Is it possible that this little critter is enjoying a smorgasbord of hibernating goldies and colorful carp from beneath the ice mass of my scenic water feature or could it be the Loch Ness Monster?
The last unexpected predator, a gigantic Blue Heron, who quite frankly, was more fun to watch than the boring old fish left his foot prints next to the hole in the ice where he bobbed for his breakfast back in November but was scared off by the click of my iphone 4 camera. I haven’t seen him since.
I am about to put on my boots to go out to do a fin count. Hopefully that little weasel didn’t clean me out.
All in all I think it’s pretty cool as long as they leave me some fish to talk to this spring!
Comments welcome!
Thanks,
Mac
I really

Susanne, no there is no safe place to which these various critters can be relocated. Most of the landscape is already heavily populated with humans and their stuff, and those places that are still wild are already populated with these critters. Basically, humans are quickly squeezing out other species.

That would be a mink. Much too small for an otter.

Agree with Dan, but I would look into ways to deter predators in general. If you kill this mink, it’s only a matter of time before another mink, or perhaps an otter or raccoon, discover your pond.

Mustelids, such as the mink, are superb hunters and sometimes take prey larger than themselves. He won’t be able to eat a fish bigger than himself in one sitting, but will eat some and cache the rest for later. Sometimes they continue to kill after after they are satiated, and store their prey for a future meal. Some people call that vicious, but it’s really no different from a human storing food for later. Most of us load up our freezers literally with dead animal parts, after all. The mink does the same.

Best of luck with your surgery tomorrow! You’re right – the mink is the least of your problems. I hope you do well!!

I WENT TO THE PANTANAL IN BRAZIL FOR A MONTH TO PHOTOGRAGH JAGUAR SAW ABOUT 20 JAGUARS IT WAS FANTASTIC AND LIKE I SAID I WANT TO PHOTOGRAGH CT. ANIMALS LIKE FISHERCATS, BEAVERS, MINK, BOBCATS WHICH I HAVER NEVER SEEN ANYONE HAVE ANY PLACES I COUD GO TO MAYBE GET A PHOTO.

DAVID

The fisher reintroduced itself to the northeastern part of the state all on its own. In 1988 the DEEP reintroduced it to its native habitat in northwestern Connecticut, because that area was cut off from natural lanes of travel. The species has been on its own since then as far as I can tell, minus licensed fur trapping. They are not rare in all your neighboring states.

Trapping and shooting them would be illegal without a license, not to mention sad. Enjoy them.

And it would be awesome if we stopped calling them by their colloquial misnomer, as they’re not cats, but members of the weasel family. Simply “fisher.”

Teresa, did you photograph the tracks? If so, I would be happy to take a look at them. If you want, click on my name to get to my blog, then “like” my Facebook webpage and you can post the photos there, at the top of the left column.

Teresa, I got your photos on by FB page, where I responded, but since I am not sure you will get my response there, I am also replying here. Those are raccoon tracks in your photos, definitely not fisher. And raccoons definitely do predate on poultry.

Hi Alyssa – and – you actually lived to tell about the experience – you weren’t mauled – you didn’t lose any limbs – it didn’t suck your very soul out of your body ??? Say it isn’t so… Actually – I enjoyed my first encounter as well. Some people put a Fisher experience right up there with running into Kaiser Soze on a very dark night… We’ve really grown oh so soft…

I heard one of these…
I heard one of these last year. I actually ran outside thinking it was a lost child – but we realized it was a fisher cat!

I saw one last night in
I saw one last night in Manchester, CT. I was running on a trail and a large dark brown animal crossed the path maybe 20 feet in front of me. It was bigger than a cat and longer, with a long bushy tail. I thought it looked like a large weasel, but I had never seen anything like it before. When I got to where it had run across it smelled “skunky”. I went home and googled it and it was definitely a fisher! so cool!

Fisher Cat
I was 5 feet away from a tree that had animals run up it and it shook violently
then i heard the most BLOOD CURDLING HORRIFIC SCREAMS that i have
never even heard in a horror flick!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
all this while i was sitting in my car with the windows open talking on the phone
i IMMEDIATELY buzzed my windows up and drove away never to be near that
location again out of fear for my life.
your article is downright wrong and not based in fact with the sarcastic speculation
and your ridiculous closing statements need to be corrected.
“sound a bit creepy.” HA! try being 5 feet away from that sound WITNESSING THE EXPERIENCE!!!!!!!
“the fisher could be MISTAKEN for an unearthly tormented specter wandering the woods late at night.
However it should be noted the there is no proof that these screams are coming from a fisher….
chupacabra” this comment is idiotic. there IS PROOF. you just didn’t bother to do ACTUAL research.
why don’t you try going out into the woods and wait til one attacks you like 2 of them HAVE attacked friends
of mine on their land. then your sarcasm will be replaced by photos of the wounds IF you survive the attack
and either way, it IS PROVEN that what Fisher Cats DO is mimic the sounds of bloody murder that the
animal they are KILLING is screaming. Also, the United States Navy has warnings because it IS IN FACT
DOCUMENTED that these animals HAVE attacked humans on the US Sub base in Groton, CT too. When
I worked there, they gave us warnings about walking on base at night time.
Before you write articles to “educate” people, do your due diligence to make sure that you have something
to ACTUALLY teach anyone.

Cougars are very interesting
Cougars are very interesting animals. They may not be very pleasant to be around though.

fischer cat
Tonight my husband and I heard a horrible screaming in the woods on our property in Uncasville, Ct. It sounded like something was being killed and I feared for the life of a ferel cat that comes here every morning. We went out on the deck with a flashlight where we could here something moving through the woods, screaming as it moved along the edge of our property.. It seemed to move quickly. When we came into the house, I googled fischer screams and we now know that we have a fischer wandering our property. The sound was unmistakably the same. Very creepy!
May 3, 2015

The article is wrong in
The article is wrong in saying that the fisher cat is not a fisher…. they are the same thing, just different names… though nasty if cornered or trapped, they aren’t really much to worry about any more than a mink, weasel, etc….

Is it a fisher?
I have a strange wild animal in my area that I have been told by a neighbor that it is a fisher cat. I looked up pictures on line and it does not look like the fisher cats in the photos. It is about the size of a large cat, had a somewhat small head, short haired coat that is a pretty shiny black and brown mix. Animal was quick moving and sleek looking. Tail is very long, short haired-not furry and coarse like the Fisher’s and it was bentand curved upwards. Does anyone know what this could be if not a Fisher? I just saw him tonight in a tree. I live in Branford close to shore and directly on a pond.

Fisher Cat
Anthony it is nature. Cats are predators. They hunt. Thats what they do and always have done.