From rabbits to squirrels to deer, we encounter wildlife on Cape Cod every day. But an animal you may not have encountered yet is the fisher.
But there's a lot more to them than just being cute, according to Meghan Crawford, community engagement biologist for Mass Wildlife.
CAI's Gilda Geist spoke with Crawford recently to learn more about the ever-elusive fisher.
Gilda Geist Can you introduce us to the fisher?
Meghan Crawford The fisher is one of five mustelids that currently live in Massachusetts. A mustelid is a member of the weasel family, so fishers are a type of weasel. They're somewhere between two to three feet in length, and that does include their tail. They tend to be a little bit bigger than your average house cat. The coloration is usually this beautiful, rich brown color with a little bit of black fur in there. Often mustelids have this very sort of long, slender body, which often includes these very short legs. And for fishers, they have, typically, this very heavy furry tail at the end.
They can be found anywhere across mainland Massachusetts, so that does include Cape Cod. The earliest sightings, I believe, of fisher were in the early 2000s after they were rebounding and really found across the state. They were seen in early 2000s on the Cape, they just cannot be found on Martha's Vineyard or Nantucket at this time. They do really prefer forested habitats—coniferous forests with nice, closed canopies. And it was historically thought that they really kept to those habitats. Recently, we've learned that fishers are more willing to move through and utilize more suburban areas or residential areas to access food or to travel between different pockets of their habitat.
GG So before we get any further, I've also heard this animal be called a fisher cat. So, what is the correct name for this creature and where does the name come from?
MC It is super common for folks to refer to this animal as a fisher cat. I remember growing up, that's what I learned. But that is not correct. They are not cats at all. So the most accurate way to describe this animal is in fact, a fisher. This animal does not typically eat fish. They don't attempt to catch fish.
So it's not entirely agreed upon where their name came from, but there are two main thoughts. One is that maybe that early on, fur trappers that were trapping fishers, they were using fish to bait them into those traps. And another thought is maybe that early on, European settlers, when they came over, they saw this animal and they saw that it had a close resemblance to a related animal that could be found in Europe called a polecat, or sometimes referred to as a fitch. And maybe over time, they might have referred to the animal, the fitch, and that might have eventually turned into fisher as we know it today.
GG The fisher seems to have this reputation of being elusive and mysterious. Where does this characterization of the fisher come from, and do you feel like it's accurate?
MC I would say that the fisher is elusive. They are shy and like to keep to themselves. And so because they have these shy, elusive natural behaviors, that just makes them a little bit more mysterious to people, right? If they don't get to see this animal up close frequently, like we do, say, with squirrels or rabbits, where we can look at them and answer our own questions. Instead, this animal is out there but not often seen. It can lead to it being pretty mysterious, which unfortunately can lead to a lot of misunderstanding and even fear. People will often call us with concerns about fishers in their community because they're worried it could be a threat to their family's or their pets' health and safety. But the truth is that there is very little true conflict between fishers and people, and fishers do generally keep to themselves.
GG What is the most common piece of fisher misinformation that you encounter?
MC There's a lot of myths about fishers, but one really common myth is when people describe their concerns about fishers. The first thing that they say is, 'I heard it screaming in the middle of the night. I heard a bloodcurdling scream come from my back yard, come from my neighborhood. And so I know a fisher is out there.' And it turns out fishers are really not known for having vocalizations like that. They very rarely make sound. But that doesn't mean that people aren't actually hearing those screams in their neighborhood. More likely, it is a red fox. Red foxes are known for making all different types of vocalizations, and that's especially true during red fox mating season, which occurs in the winter. If fishers make any sound at all, it's usually a little chuckle-like grunt, and it's only when they're in a very stressful situation. Otherwise, they're quite quiet.
For more information on fishers and mustelids, head over to Mass Wildlife's website.
