Fisher (animal) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Fisher |
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| A fisher in Washington | |
| Conservation status | |
Scientific classification  |
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Family: | Mustelidae |
| Subfamily: | Guloninae |
| Genus: | Pekania |
| Species: |
P. pennanti
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| Binomial name | |
| Pekania pennanti (Erxleben, 1777)
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| Synonyms | |
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List
Mustela pennantii Erxleben, 1777
Mustela canadensis Schreber, 1788 Mustela melanorhyncha Boddaert, 1784 Mustela zibellina nigra Kerr, 1792 Viverra piscator Shaw, 1800 Viverra canadensis Shaw, 1800 Mustela nigra Turton, 1802 Mustela piscatoria Lesson, 1827 Martes pennantii Smith, 1843 Martes pennanti Coues, 1877 |
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The fisher (Pekania pennanti) is a meat-eating mammal found in North America. It lives in forests, especially the boreal forests of Canada and the northern United States. The fisher belongs to the weasel family. It is the only living animal in its group, called Pekania. People sometimes call it a "fisher cat," but it is not a cat.
Fishers look a bit like American martens, but they are larger. In some places, fishers are called pekan or wejack. These names come from Native American languages. For example, pekan comes from the Abenaki language.
Fishers have few natural enemies other than humans. People have hunted them for their fur since the 1700s. Their fur was so popular that fishers almost disappeared from some parts of the United States. Thanks to conservation efforts, their numbers have grown again. However, they still live in a smaller area than they used to.
In the 1920s, some people tried to raise fishers for their fur. This was hard because fishers have a special way of reproducing. When fur prices dropped in the 1940s, most fisher farms closed. Fishers usually stay away from people. But as human homes spread into forests, conflicts sometimes happen.
Male and female fishers look alike, but males are much bigger. A male can be twice as large as a female. Their fur changes with the seasons. It is thicker and shinier in winter. In summer, the fur looks more patchy as they shed their old coat. Fishers prefer to hunt in dense forests. They are good climbers but spend most of their time on the ground. They often look for food around fallen trees.
Fishers eat many different things. They are omnivores, meaning they eat both plants and animals. Their diet includes small animals, fruits, and mushrooms. They especially like snowshoe hares. Fishers are also one of the few animals that can successfully hunt porcupines. Even though they are called "fishers," they rarely eat fish.
Their life cycle lasts almost a year. Female fishers have three or four babies, called kits, in the spring. They care for their kits until late summer, when the young are ready to live alone. Females mate again soon after giving birth. But the baby's development is paused until the next spring. Then, the cycle starts over.
Contents
What's in a Name? The Fisher's Story
Despite its name, the fisher does not usually eat fish. The name "fisher" likely comes from an old word. This word, "fitch," referred to a European polecat or its fur. Fishers look a bit like polecats. The name might come from Dutch words like fisse or visse. Some people thought the name came from fishers liking fish used as bait in traps. But this idea is probably just a local story.
Fisher Family Tree: Taxonomy and Evolution
The fisher's scientific name, pennanti, honors Thomas Pennant. He described the animal in 1771. Before him, Buffon called it a pekan in 1765. Over time, scientists gave the fisher different names. Eventually, it was placed in the group Martes.
In 2008, new DNA studies helped scientists learn more. They found that the fisher was unique enough to have its own group. So, they created the genus Pekania. The fisher is now known as Pekania pennanti.
Fishers have a special set of teeth. They have four premolar teeth on their upper and lower jaws. Their close relatives, like weasels, have only three. A fisher has a total of 38 teeth.
How Fishers Evolved Over Time
Scientists believe that ancient relatives of the fisher came to North America millions of years ago. Fossils of early fishers have been found in Asia and North America. This suggests a long journey across continents. The modern fisher, Pekania pennanti, has existed for at least 125,000 years. Ancient fishers looked very similar to the ones we see today.
For a while, scientists thought there were different types, or subspecies, of fishers. But later research showed that most fishers are very much alike. So, today, the fisher is usually seen as one single species.
What Does a Fisher Look Like?
Fishers have long, slender bodies that are low to the ground. Males and females look similar, but males are much larger. Males are typically 90 to 120 centimeters (about 3 to 4 feet) long. They weigh between 3.5 and 6 kilograms (about 8 to 13 pounds). Females are smaller, measuring 75 to 95 centimeters (about 2.5 to 3 feet) long. They weigh 2 to 2.5 kilograms (about 4 to 5.5 pounds). The largest male fisher ever found weighed 9 kilograms (about 20 pounds).
A fisher's fur changes with the seasons. In early winter, their coats are thick and shiny. The color ranges from deep brown to black. It looks especially dark against white snow. Their faces and shoulders can have a silvery or golden look. The underside of a fisher is mostly brown, with some white or cream patches. In summer, their fur can become lighter and more varied. Fishers shed their fur from late summer until early winter.
Fishers have five toes on each foot. Their claws can be pulled back, like a cat's. Their large feet help them walk on snow. Coarse hairs grow between their pads and toes on their hind feet. This gives them extra grip on slippery surfaces. Fishers have very flexible ankle joints. They can rotate their hind paws almost 180 degrees. This allows them to climb down trees head-first, which is quite rare for mammals!
A special patch of hair on their hind paws contains glands. These glands release a unique scent. This scent helps fishers find each other during mating season.
Fisher Life: Hunting, Diet, and Reproduction
Hunting and Diet
Fishers are skilled hunters. They eat a variety of foods. Their main prey includes snowshoe hares and porcupines. They also eat insects, nuts, berries, and mushrooms. Sometimes, they even eat small apples in winter. Since they hunt alone, they usually target animals smaller than themselves.
Scientists have studied what fishers eat. They found evidence of birds, small mammals, and even deer. This means fishers will eat animals that have already died. While not common, fishers have been known to hunt larger animals. These can include wild turkeys, raccoons, and even Canada lynxes. In some areas, fishers have been observed preying on lynx, especially during snowstorms.
Fishers are one of the few animals that actively hunt porcupines. Old stories sometimes say fishers flip porcupines over. But studies show that fishers attack a porcupine's face with repeated bites. They keep attacking until the porcupine is defeated, which can take about 25 to 30 minutes.
Reproduction and Life Cycle
Female fishers can start having babies when they are about one year old. Their reproductive cycle lasts almost a full year. Mating happens in late March or early April. But the fertilized egg does not start growing right away. Its development is paused for about ten months. This pause is called delayed implantation.
Active pregnancy begins in mid-February of the next year. After about 50 days, the female gives birth to one to four kits. Just 7 to 10 days after giving birth, the female is ready to mate again. This starts the cycle all over.
Female fishers make their dens in hollow trees. Kits are born blind and helpless. They have a thin coat of hair. Kits start to crawl after about three weeks. Their eyes open around seven weeks. They begin to climb after eight weeks. For the first two to two and a half months, kits drink only their mother's milk. Then, they start eating solid food. After four months, they become less tolerant of their siblings. By five months, their mother encourages them to leave and live on their own. Young fishers establish their own territory after about a year.
Social Life and Home Range
Fishers are usually most active at dawn and dusk. They are active all year round. Fishers are solitary animals, meaning they live alone. They only come together to mate. Males are more active during mating season. Females are least active when they are pregnant. Their activity slowly increases after their kits are born.
A fisher's hunting area, or home range, changes with the seasons. It can be about 6.6 square kilometers (2.5 square miles) in summer. In winter, it can grow to 14.1 square kilometers (5.4 square miles). Some ranges can be as large as 20 square kilometers (7.7 square miles) in good habitats. Male and female fishers often have overlapping territories.
Who Hunts the Fisher?
Adult fishers do not have many regular predators. However, larger animals can sometimes hunt them. These include bears, coyotes, golden eagles, bald eagles, lynxes, mountain lions, wolverines, and possibly great horned owls.
Fishers can also have parasites. These are tiny organisms that live on or inside another animal. Some parasites found in fishers include different types of worms.
Where Fishers Live: Habitat and Distribution
Fishers are good at climbing trees, but they spend most of their time on the ground. They prefer continuous forests. These can be dense conifer forests or mixed forests with both hardwood and conifer trees. Fishers like areas where the tree canopy covers more than 80% of the ground. They avoid open areas.
Older forests are often preferred by fishers. Female fishers need moderately large trees for their dens. So, forests that have been heavily cut down are not good for them. Fishers also like forest floors with lots of fallen wood. In western forests, they prefer areas near rivers and streams. Fishers tend to avoid areas with very deep snow.
Where Can You Find Fishers?
Fishers live across the northern forests of North America. Their range stretches from Nova Scotia in eastern Canada to British Columbia on the Pacific coast. They live as far north as the Great Slave Lake and south into the mountains of Oregon. You can also find isolated groups in California's Sierra Nevada, throughout New England, and in parts of the Appalachian Mountains.
In the late 1800s and early 1900s, fishers almost disappeared from many southern and eastern areas. Too much trapping and loss of their forest homes caused this decline.
By the 1930s, most states had rules to protect fishers. Forests started to grow back on old farmlands. Better forest management also helped. These changes created more habitat, allowing fisher populations to recover. Today, their numbers are strong enough that they are no longer endangered.
In areas where fishers had disappeared, porcupine numbers sometimes grew too high. This caused damage to trees. To fix this, fishers were brought back to these forests. Once fishers returned, porcupine numbers went back to normal levels.
Since 2008, fishers have been reintroduced to Washington State. They were also brought back to parts of Oregon and California. These reintroduced animals are watched with radio collars and cameras. This helps scientists see that they are reproducing and thriving. Fishers are now a protected species in Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming. In California, they have been listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act of 1973.
Recent studies show that fishers are now moving into suburban areas. They are being seen in backyards and farmlands in several US states and eastern Canada. This includes northern Massachusetts, New York, Connecticut, Minnesota, Iowa, and even northwestern New Jersey.
Fishers and People
Fishers and humans have a long history. Most of this history has been difficult for fishers. Attacks on humans are very rare. Fishers will only attack if they feel threatened or cornered. There have been a few reports of fishers attacking children, but these are unusual events.
Fur Trade and Conservation Efforts
People have trapped fishers for their fur since the 1700s. Their fur was valuable, often used for scarves and hats. The best furs came from winter trapping. Fishers were easy to trap, which made them a popular target.
Fur prices changed a lot over the years. They were highest in the 1920s and 1930s. Prices dropped in the 1960s but rose again in the late 1970s. In 1999, many pelts were sold in Canada, but for a much lower average price.
Between 1900 and 1940, fishers faced extinction in many areas. This was due to too much trapping and habitat loss. In New England, fishers almost disappeared. By 1934, strict protection was put in place. Closed hunting seasons, forest regrowth, and reintroductions helped fishers recover.
Trapping slowly resumed in the U.S. after 1962. But another population drop happened in 1976 when fur prices soared again. After more protections, fisher populations have steadily increased.
Fishers in Captivity
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Fishers have been caught alive for fur farms, zoos, and scientific studies. Raising them on farms was hard because of their unique reproductive cycle. Farmers didn't know about the delayed development of their babies. Most fur farms closed by the late 1940s.
Fishers are not common in zoos. They tend to hide from visitors. They can also get sick easily in captivity. However, some fishers have lived to be 10 or even 14 years old in zoos. This is much longer than their natural lifespan of about 7 years.
Scientists have also studied fishers in captivity. One researcher raised two kits to learn about their activity levels. This helped him estimate how much food they needed to survive in the wild.
Interactions with Pets
Sometimes, fishers can cause problems for farmers by raiding chicken coops. There have been reports of fishers preying on cats and small dogs. However, studies show this is very rare. For example, one study in New Hampshire found cat hairs in only one out of over 1,000 fisher stomachs.
Environmental Concerns
Fishers can be harmed by poisons used by humans in their habitat. Studies in California have shown that fishers were exposed to and sometimes killed by poisons meant for rodents. These poisons were found in fishers living near areas where humans used them. This shows how human activities can impact wildlife.
Fishers in Stories
Fishers appear in many books. Robert Snyder wrote about seeing fishers in the Adirondack Mountains. He even saw one attacking a porcupine.
In Winter of the Fisher, Cameron Langford tells a fictional story. It's about a fisher and an old man living in the forest. The man helps the fisher, and the wild animal eventually returns to its home.
Fishers are also mentioned in other books. These include The Blood Jaguar, Ereth's Birthday, Egg Marks The Spot, and The Sign of the Beaver.
See also
In Spanish: Pekán para niños
