FISHER

BASIC FACTS ABOUT fishermen
Fishermen (Martes pennanti) is a member of the weasel family, similar to a marten.

Fisher, © Wildlife Defenders

© Wildlife Defenders
Diet
Do you know?

Despite their name, fishers do not hunt or fish!

Fishers eat snowshoe hares, rabbits, rodents and birds, and is one of the few specialized predators of porcupines. Fishermen are efficient hunters, but also known to eat insects, seeds and fruits when prey is not available.

Population
Fishermen are very popular in the Northeast and Midwest, but rare in the northern Rockies and Northwest, where they are one of the rarest carnivores.

Limit
Fishermen are only found in North America. Historically, it oscillates northern forests of Canada and the United States as well as the forests of Appalachia, the Rocky Mountains and Pacific Coast. Today, fishermen found only in parts of their historical range. In the United States, they exist in parts of the Appalachian Mountains from southern New England to Tennessee; northern Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan peninsula on; North Idaho and western Montana; West Coast and three small populations in southwestern Oregon and northwestern California southern Sierra Nevada. Reintroductions led to reoccupy their former habitat in Idaho, Michigan, Montana, Nova Scotia, Vermont, West Virginia, Maine, Manitoba, Minnesota, New York, Ontario and Tennessee.

Behavior
Fishers prefer large areas of dense mature coniferous or mixed forest and the animals alone. They are mostly at night, but can operate in daylight. They walked for several miles along the ridge in search of prey, seeking shelter in hollow trees, logs, rocks, and the dens of other animals.

Born
Mating season: April.
Gestation: egg implantation is delayed until February or March next year, followed by a period of 30 days pregnant.
Click the garbage: 1-4 kits.

The kits stay with their mother until the autumn.

Threats to Fishers
Through harvested for pelts and habitat loss due to forest exploitation and road construction have dropped significantly and range fragmentation of fishermen.

Climate change could increase the frequency of fires across the scope of the fishermen, removed, old trees bearing cavity they need to Denning.

Defenders are Doing nothing to help Fishers
In both Northern Rockies and their Western bank, Defender is working to ensure full federal protection for fishermen and their habitats, a positive impact on policies and decisions that affect to them - such as trapping in Montana, or logging on private land in California - and prepare for changing habitat due fishermen climate change.