Getting a great picture can be a challenge. If you’ve ever tried to get a great picture of your cat, then you may have discovered that cats aren’t always totally photogenic. Tagged fishers are often found with quills embedded deep within the skin from previous encounters.Image source: smoothiethecat via Though a fisher is not completely immune to a porcupine quill, it is able to fend off serious infections from quill injuries that would otherwise kill most animals. Once on the ground, the agile fisher now has the advantage over its sluggish prey. Like a squirrel, a fisher can climb a tree and then swivel around and descend head first into the porcupine, forcing it to the ground. This long, sleek creature will use its supreme arboreal abilities to chase a porcupine up a tree and wear down its prey before attacking. This tactic may work for many predators, but it is useless against the fisher. Often, the attack can take over a half an hour until the fisher can inflict a lethal bite.Ī porcupine spends most of its time in trees, where it is safe from terrestrial assailants. It rapidly strikes the face of the porcupine in order to injure its prey. “A porcupine’s face is its only unprotected portion other than its belly, and the fisher has evolved quickness and agility in order to take advantage of this gap in the porcupine’s armor. If you appreciate what The Swellesley Report offers, please consider making a non-deductible contribution.We’re not sure if that latter approach is an allowed use under the town’s outside water restrictions… The state’s MassWildlife agency encourages you not to “let fishers intimidate you: Don’t hesitate to scare or threaten fishers with loud noises, bright lights, or water sprayed from a hose.” Really shows the importance of a balanced food chain or food web.” Fishers are one of the few animals that will actively hunt and eat porcupine. Porcupine can decimate the understory of a forest and kill trees by collaring them, eating the bark and under bark off a tree around the entire trunk killing the tree. Moore says “I do not know if they rebounded or were reintroduced to manage the porcupine population that exploded as the fisher declined. Mass Audubon says fishers were reintroduced in New England in the 1950s to control porcupines. The grey fox also can climb trees and the female call during mating sounds like a child or woman screaming,” she says. “Fishers will hiss, growl, and make a chuckle sound, but they do not scream. While I’ve bought into the idea that screaming fishers are among the critters that keep me awake at night, Moore says fishers screaming is a misconception. Males tend to be about three feet long and females about two feet long, in both sexes the tail makes up a third of the body length.” This small mammal ranges in size from 4-16 lbs, with females being smaller than males. “They belong to the weasel family, and are not a cat and don’t fish. “Often called a Fisher Cat, which is a misnomer,” Moore says. One of her fun facts is that fishers can climb down a tree headfirst. She’s learned about them while working for Mass Audubon for the last 10 years, plus has spotted them in her yard on occasion. Lisa Moore, the environmental education, outreach, and compliance coordinator for Wellesley’s Natural Resources Commission, calls them “one of the most misunderstood animals around here.” Their primary foods include small rodents, squirrels, rabbits, birds, eggs, fruit, porcupines, and carrion… Although they are proficient climbers, most of their hunting takes place on the ground.” They commonly use hollow logs, stonewalls, tree cavities, and brush piles to rest. Their preferred habitat is mixed forest with heavy canopy cover, as they tend to avoid traveling in large open areas. “Other than that it has only been reported to me once, a resident hearing one in their neighborhood,” Smith said.įun facts from Smith about the animals are that “they remain active year round and do not hibernate. Wellesley Animal Control Officer Jenny Smith says the only one she’s seen in town since starting her job in early 2021 was unfortunately hit by a car. Shedd said “this was our first up close and personal, but we’ve seen them under shrubs in the perimeter of our garden years ago.” Pretty sure I picked up my pace when I saw it. The only one I’ve seen in the wild skittered across Pond Road in Wellesley at dawn a few years back while I was running. Eel” seen in Wellesley.įisher cats, or more accurately “fishers,” are known for being “elusive”-that’s the word everyone seems to use when describing this member of the weasel family. This video is right up there with 2018’s “Otter vs.
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