Fisher Homerange Expanding

Last week's story about the mink That's become an attraction in the Weedville area brought comparisons to another furbearer that is showing up with greater frequency in this part of the state.

Meet the fisher, a member of the weasel family that has returned as the result of an aggressive reintroduction project by the Pa. Game Commission.

There were no fishers in the state for several decades. By the early 1990s, there were scattered fisher sightings as the animals migrated north from West Virginia. Then came the release of 190 fishers in three areas across the state's northern tier.

Dr. Matt Lovallo, Game Commission furbearer biologist, calls the successful reintroduction of fishers "one of the most exciting stories in furbearer conservation in the nation."

Fishers are lanky furbearers that typically range in weight from five to 14 pounds. Their diet includes songbirds, small mammals, porcupines and carrion, and occasionally includes fruit. Ironically, fishers rarely pursue fish.

Lovallo is heading a team that's out to learn more about the home range and population of fishers via radio-telemetry and other scientific studies. Collars placed on fishers will transmit a radio signal for about a year and a half.

Pennsylvania's fisher population increase is evidenced by reported observations. In 2002, 106 fisher reports were received; 206 in 2003; 303 in 2004; and 341 (including 49 captured and released by trappers) in 2005.

In Pennsylvania, the fisher is listed as a "species of conservation concern." That's an official designation tied to protection efforts, a step away from the "threatened species" category.

"There's a lot of young forest here and fishers are using it," Lovallo said. "The long-held beliefs that fishers are shy wilderness carnivores that hound porcupines and prefer to live in old-growth forest likely will not be substantiated in this study. But fishers apparently will shine as highly-adaptable carnivores that can live in the shadow of civilization, so long as there are forests for them to inhabit."

When this research is completed, the Game Commission expects to have a blueprint to build a management tool to manage fisher populations.

"That's going to open the door to possibly harvesting fishers, which occurs in three states that border us - New York, West Virginia and Maryland," Lovallo said.