Fishercats
 

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.

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See them all the time in the Matunuck Wakefield, Narragansett area.

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...

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

We have them around the Somerset/Fall River area. They make an aweful schreech.

woke up to the screaching the other night before I saw it a few days later. sounds like a baby screaming...

We have a lot in Boylston. Had one chase my supervisor one day. Fast and vicious buggers
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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.

Got one living behind my house!:uhuh:

They are screamers mating. You'll be awake all night.

Bill, why are you mating with Fisher cats?
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oh Baby
 

YouTube - fisher cats

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

Watch out they can be down right nasty...

A little Lube might help.....

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.

Did the same thing in VT. Killed off almost all the small game before they tried a porcupine....No more cats in the neiborhood

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.

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....

yup

I had one a couple of years ago running up and down the wall down back. Have not seen it in quite awhile.

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

I saw a toad in the road this AM.

Should I start a new thread for this sighting?
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Please. I would like to make a comment about it.

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:

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

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

was he a Fisher Toad Woody? :)

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.

Keep your cats and small dogs in if you think a fisher is living locally......

My dog is not small......just dumb. :uhuh:

all dogs are DUMB
 

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 ...

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

Red squirrel across the street this AM. Foraging for acorns.

A glorious little creature.
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someone's been getting skunked

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

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...

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.

I saw a fish and a cat in my back yard this weekend!

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.