The following article was written by Kennedy Zittel, a Naturalist at the Woodland Dunes Nature Center.
The animal that excites me the most to see on our trail camera is the fisher. Fisher (Pekania pennanti) are members of the weasel family (mustelids). They are dark brown – black in color with thick fur and bushy tails. Adult males weigh around 15 lbs, and are often 25 – 50% larger than females. Fisher look similar to American martin, but are larger and are more common to see in Wisconsin in recent years than martin are.
Though they have a large range – covering most of the boreal forest in Canada and Northern US – not many people are familiar with the species. Fisher prefer a very specific habitat, a large continuous forest with over 80% overhead cover and will avoid smaller patchwork forests and areas with less than 50% overhead cover. Fisher were once common throughout Wisconsin, however, they were heavily trapped for their fur, so much so that they became locally extinct in some regions (including Wisconsin) around the 20th century. Fisher were reintroduced to Wisconsin in the 1950s and 60s by the Wisconsin DNR and US Fish and Wildlife Service, starting with a mere 60 being released into Chequamegon National Forest (with additional releases happening afterwards).
They are amazing climbers. They have a unique adaptation that allows them to rotate their hind paws almost 180 degrees, this adaptation makes them one of the few mammal species that are able to climb down trees headfirst! Though they are amazing climbers, they spend most of their time on the ground. Unlike their name would imply, they rarely eat fish. Instead, the name derives from early settlers calling them “fitch” the fur-trade name for a European polecat (Mustela putorius) due to their resemblance to the animal they knew from Europe. Their diet consists of rabbits, squirrels, small rodents, and they are one of the few predators to hunt and eat porcupines!
When can you see one? Fisher are crepuscular (active at dawn and dusk), however, they are a very secretive species. Staff have seen them in person only a handful of times, quickly bounding across the trail or moving through the forest. You are much more likely to see their tracks. Fisher, like other weasels, move in a bounding pattern. They move like a slinky, bounding and landing with two feet side by side with all four feet together. Their tracks are around 2-3.5” wide and 2.5-4” long with five clawed toes and a C-shaped footpad.
Before working at Woodland Dunes, I didn’t even know that fisher lived around here. Imagine my surprise when I saw one on the camera for the first time! It always amazes me how many species call this preserve home. There is still so much to learn and discover, something we can solve by simply spending time out in nature – observing the natural world around us.
