View Full Version : Fishercats


Adam_777
05-12-2011, 04:08 PM
I saw one of these creatures for the first time today.Scurrying across the road at sunrise.Funny I've lived in MA and RI my entire life and never stumbled across one until today.Very cool looking animal.Not my picture but after trying to figure out what it was the picture was spot on.

46754

MakoMike
05-12-2011, 04:21 PM
See them all the time in the Matunuck Wakefield, Narragansett area.

bart
05-12-2011, 04:34 PM
saw one chasing birds and squirrels up a tree the other day in my backyard. you should have seen how fast it scaled the trees. unreal...

Raven
05-12-2011, 04:37 PM
they sure have a large fat tail don't they !

that gives them away right off....

their numbers had diminished and now they are on the rebound
in a big way

Hookedagain
05-12-2011, 04:37 PM
We have them around the Somerset/Fall River area. They make an aweful schreech.

bart
05-12-2011, 04:40 PM
woke up to the screaching the other night before I saw it a few days later. sounds like a baby screaming...

Bob Thomas
05-12-2011, 05:26 PM
We have a lot in Boylston. Had one chase my supervisor one day. Fast and vicious buggers
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Rob Rockcrawler
05-12-2011, 05:32 PM
they sure have a large fat tail don't they !

that gives them away right off....

their numbers had diminished and now they are on the rebound
in a big way


When they banned leg hold traps they started to rebound. I know a couple guys that you to trap them near my house, once the law went into effect they gave up, now i see them about once a month or so.

BigFish
05-12-2011, 06:10 PM
Got one living behind my house!:uhuh:

striperman36
05-12-2011, 06:46 PM
They are screamers mating. You'll be awake all night.

PRBuzz
05-12-2011, 06:57 PM
They are screamers mating. You'll be awake all night.

Bill, why are you mating with Fisher cats?
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Raven
05-12-2011, 07:10 PM
YouTube - fisher cats (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32FpHpLRLo4&feature=related)

second one is bizarre (caution dumb people and profanity)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRcHxxJV9ck&feature=related

TheSpecialist
05-12-2011, 07:43 PM
Watch out they can be down right nasty...

The Dad Fisherman
05-13-2011, 05:09 AM
They are screamers mating. You'll be awake all night.

A little Lube might help.....

quick decision
05-13-2011, 05:30 AM
They were imported to Maine to help control the porcupine population many years ago. Porcupines strip bark off of trees which loggers dont like so much. They will flip a porcupine on its back a gut it from arse to its head with there razor sharp claws.

Speedy Too
05-13-2011, 06:44 AM
Did the same thing in VT. Killed off almost all the small game before they tried a porcupine....No more cats in the neiborhood

Rockfish9
05-13-2011, 08:37 AM
When they banned leg hold traps they started to rebound. I know a couple guys that you to trap them near my house, once the law went into effect they gave up, now i see them about once a month or so.

Not true..their numbers were rebounding long before the ban which included conibears.. which is the main reason for the populatin explosion of beaver....... The most effective method for catching fisher is with a baited cubby or pole set gaurded with a #220 conibear.. this state has only allowed cage traps on dry land since the mid 70's.. fisher, like beavers were trapped to near extinction in colonial times.. Fisher have a very strange reproductive cycle,females usualy breed every 2 years, and only have 2-3 kits... they were re-introduced by the state ( of Mass) with animals live trapped from Vermont and upstate new york... like the coyote, they have adapted to urban life, which has made thier numbers explode.. Man is now their real only enemy...I've trapped hundreds of them... both as an animal damage control officer and fur trapper before retiring in 1993...after a second bout with lymes disease.

Rockfish9
05-13-2011, 08:42 AM
Did the same thing in VT. Killed off almost all the small game before they tried a porcupine....No more cats in the neiborhood

Fisher are one of the few animals ( great horned owls being the other) to dine regualrly on Porky's... deep winter will find them in the hemlock groves near a porky colony.... using thier speed, they confront the quilled pig head on, by administering several speedy bites to the nose and face they sit back and let the animal suffocate in it's own blood... then flip said pig and attack the soft ( unquillled) belly ... when they are done, all that is left is a skin with quills attached.... I've come accross several in the wint woods.. that tale in the snow told the gruesome act....

MrHunters
05-13-2011, 12:18 PM
woke up to the screaching the other night before I saw it a few days later. sounds like a baby screaming...

yup

Swimmer
05-13-2011, 01:15 PM
I had one a couple of years ago running up and down the wall down back. Have not seen it in quite awhile.

Raven
05-13-2011, 08:53 PM
i've heard it enough that i know "for sure"
that a screaming (just caught) Rabbit
sounds the most like a screaming Baby
so much so that it awakens the prehistoric genes
defines the words blood curdling
raises the hair on your neck
creepy

WoodyCT
05-14-2011, 05:22 PM
I saw a toad in the road this AM.

Should I start a new thread for this sighting?
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Crest Daddy
05-14-2011, 05:38 PM
I saw a toad in the road this AM.

Should I start a new thread for this sighting?
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

Please. I would like to make a comment about it.

animal
05-14-2011, 06:16 PM
Adam you should stop and pet him next time.Never mind what everyone else says,they are cute,cuddly,and friendly.:)

Adam_777
05-14-2011, 06:41 PM
Adam you should stop and pet him next time.Never mind what everyone else says,they are cute,cuddly,and friendly.:)

Bob you should pet me ! :rotf2:

Adam_777
05-14-2011, 06:44 PM
I saw a toad in the road this AM.

Should I start a new thread for this sighting?
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device


Please do.You are not wanted in this one any longer.:grins:

animal
05-14-2011, 06:59 PM
Bob you should pet me ! :rotf2:

I'm flattered,but,no.:smash:

Raven
05-14-2011, 07:03 PM
I saw a toad in the road this AM.

Should I start a new thread for this sighting?
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device


was he a Fisher Toad Woody? :)

numbskull
05-14-2011, 07:50 PM
I think I also saw a fishercat tonight in Falmouth. Just before dusk I rounded a point while out plugging with my dog and about 300 yds away saw a fast black cat-like animal dash off the beach. Hard to judge size from the distance away, but it looked bigger and faster than a cat. Found its tracks, clusters of four in a hoping pattern about 28-36" apart. The track looked too big to be a regular cat. It went up a well worn path through the beach grass that my dog has been taking an inordinate interest in all winter (I thought it was a coyote path). I also recall hearing godawful screams one night last summer. Maybe Joe can confirm the track? I don't want my dumbass golden to meet up with this creature.

robc22
05-14-2011, 08:51 PM
Keep your cats and small dogs in if you think a fisher is living locally......

numbskull
05-15-2011, 05:54 AM
My dog is not small......just dumb. :uhuh:

Raven
05-15-2011, 10:58 AM
about certain things
especially their FEARS

they can be educated tho
and that requires patience
and ingenuity ....

i like dogs that can't fetch
or dogs that cannot sit up
those are the easiest to teach

try teachin them to roll over
thats a toughy....(for some)

our dog is smart and clever
to the point she's learned to
understand the words we spell
so she won't catch on to us
saying those certain words ...

Raven
05-15-2011, 11:13 AM
I don't want my dumbass golden to meet up with this creature.

it's not lethal like a badger is
a golden would make it run away
they are not bold

WoodyCT
05-15-2011, 09:10 PM
Red squirrel across the street this AM. Foraging for acorns.

A glorious little creature.
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bart
05-15-2011, 10:14 PM
someone's been getting skunked

Raven
05-16-2011, 04:37 AM
red squirrels suck
chiitter chattery bird feeder robbin
cuttin the string crashin it to the ground
little bastids wantin a shotgun blast VARMIT !

i hope the fishercats eat every single one

Rockfish9
05-16-2011, 06:16 AM
I think I also saw a fishercat tonight in Falmouth. Just before dusk I rounded a point while out plugging with my dog and about 300 yds away saw a fast black cat-like animal dash off the beach. Hard to judge size from the distance away, but it looked bigger and faster than a cat. Found its tracks, clusters of four in a hoping pattern about 28-36" apart. The track looked too big to be a regular cat. It went up a well worn path through the beach grass that my dog has been taking an inordinate interest in all winter (I thought it was a coyote path). I also recall hearing godawful screams one night last summer. Maybe Joe can confirm the track? I don't want my dumbass golden to meet up with this creature.

Judging from the rear pad mark, it looks like a fisher, Fisher are not cats, but a member of the Weasel family, most resembeling large mink... females are smaller than the males, a large adult female only gets to about 6 lbs... a large male, can get to12-15lbs.. i got a large male once that was 18lbs and measured 40" from nose to tail.....normaly they prefer conifer forests boardering swamps.... they love to hunt stone walls for mice , chipmunks and love red squirrels... but also eat acorns and fruits when they are in bumper crop....their ankles are unique, and can rotate 90 degre either way from center... great for chasing grey and red squirrels in trees... like all members of the weasel family, they are highly nomadic, they make their circuit about every 7 to 10 days, except when denned up with young... when the run they bound with their backs arched...... theitr body motion kind of look like a seal with legs when the are running...

numbskull
05-16-2011, 06:21 AM
Thanks. That sounds like what I saw. Sort of bounded off the beach and had a hunched shape as it did it. Pond/swamp behind the beach and some pines nearby. All fits.

otherscott
05-16-2011, 07:50 PM
I saw a fish and a cat in my back yard this weekend!

WoodyCT
05-20-2011, 10:08 AM
Not a fur bearing critter, but I have added Rose Breasted Grosbeaks to my list of seen birds.

Had one of each at the feeder yesterday AM.

Raven
05-20-2011, 12:54 PM
but you should have posted it
in the backyard bird watching thread

JFigliuolo
05-20-2011, 01:10 PM
We have 2 pairs and a few other young males that frequent our feeders.

JFigliuolo
05-20-2011, 01:11 PM
My dog is not small......just dumb. :uhuh:

Jesus George, give sauerkraut a break for gods sake. Just cause he loves eels doesn't make him dumb!!!

Jackbass
05-20-2011, 02:32 PM
Fishercat don't care fishercat don't give a s#$t
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Van
05-20-2011, 02:34 PM
it's not lethal like a badger is
a golden would make it run away
they are not bold


My (I mean my wife's) little yorkie saw a squirrel in the yard the other day. I've never seen that little sheet run so fast.
Laughed my arse off !!!!!

7 pounds of PURE TERROR !!!!!!!

WoodyCT
05-20-2011, 07:53 PM
but you should have posted it
in the backyard bird watching thread

My bad. Didn't realize this is a mammaries only thread.

I also have Chipmunks out the wazoo. One has a gray back, not rusty brown, which is a bit unusual.
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Raven
05-20-2011, 08:13 PM
My bad. Didn't realize this is a mammaries only thread.

I also have Chipmunks out the wazoo. One has a gray back, not rusty brown, which is a bit unusual.
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you do whatever you like WoodyCT
but keep in mind that Fishers are known to
drop out of tree's and kill birds like RBG's
as well as all other smaller animals

thats all... a weasel is a weasel
no matter what you wanna call them
they are the biggest marauder of chicken coops
that ever came down the pike.

WoodyCT
05-22-2011, 05:45 AM
Yikes.

Dropping from trees onto RBGs!

Terrorizing coops!

My god - is no one safe from these blood thirsty terrors ?
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Adam_777
05-22-2011, 07:19 AM
Man I'd pay to see some aerial footage of one coming down from a tree ready to kill.That would be cool as hell.:uhuh: