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CAPE WILDLIFE CENTER ©2007
This baby fisher was around eight weeks old on arrival at the Cape Wildlife Center and needed to be bottlefed. |
The Cape Wildlife Center staff is very proud to take care of a baby fisher, a first for the center. A fisher is one of the largest members of the Mustelid family, which includes the weasel, mink, otter, and skunk. They are commonly found in wooded habitats, such as New England, and they are also referred to as fisher "cats." Their name comes from the French fichet, the word for the pelt of the European polecat.
This baby came from Mendon, Massachusetts, in early May, where she was found in the middle of the road during the early morning. We don't know why or how long she was there, but mother fishers are known to move their litters if their den is disturbed. Our best estimate is that the young female was about eight weeks old; her eyes had just opened. She weighed a little over one pound. Although she was hungry and left without her mother, she was otherwise unharmed.
Starting out on formula for a few days, the little fisher’s diet was soon changed to include a side of mouse. Fishers in the wild are typically nursed until four months of age, and the nursing is complemented with some solid food. To replicate the mother’s natural feeding behavior, our baby fisher will continue getting a bottle once a day with an increasing number of mice. In the wild, by her fifth month, she will have learned hunting skills and be ready to leave her mother.
Cute Little Animal Will Grow to be Predator
Fishers are efficient land predators and are also able to hunt in the trees. Their feet are specially adapted; they have five toes equipped with retractable claws (like domestic cats) on all four feet. Their hind paws can turn 180 degrees allowing them to grasp limbs and climb down trees headfirst. They are agile and speedy, especially while on the hunt for small to medium-sized mammals and bird prey, such as mice, shrews, voles, squirrels, porcupines, reptiles and insects. As fishers move into suburban areas, they are adding small cats and dogs to their dinner menu—attacks on domestic pets who live in forested areas are increasing.
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CAPE WILDLIFE CENTER ©2007
The claws of a fisher are retractile, like that of a cat, and their hind paws can turn 180 degrees, providing them with agile skills to climb and even hunt in trees. |
Our small, energetic bundle of brownish-black fur with sparkling black eyes demonstrates the agility of fishers each day. In the mornings when she is moved to her outside habitat/play yard, she quickly climbs the tree limbs, hangs on the branches, and wrestles with the stuffed animals in her pen. By mid-morning and early afternoon she’s sacked out in her fleece hammock taking a nap, but by late afternoon she’s up and on the move again.
This fortunate fisher will be released back in the wild by the end of the summer, joined by a companion—the center just received their second fisher patient. By the time of their release, they will be fully-grown and weigh about four pounds. Like any wild-raised fisher, they will be on their own and begin living solitary lives as adults. They will reach sexual maturity at one year of age and will likely produce the first litters come at age two. Adult fishers are safe from predators, so with luck our fishers could live up to ten years in the wild.
Fishers were once trapped extensively in New England for their fur, almost eliminating the species. In Massachusetts today, the only legal trap is the live, box-type trap. While there is no guarantee she will stay where she is released on land where no trapping is permitted, we are grateful Massachusetts has banned cruel body crushing and leg mangling traps. Our fishers stand a good chance of living full and free lives.
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Posted July 5, 2007
