What is the deal with the fisher? Are they the evil animal in the kingdom or are they as gentle as a house cat?

Over the years I have heard different stories regarding the fisher. One hunter told me they are so mean the only way to deal with them is to run them over with your car and tell authorities it ran in front of the vehicle. Could they be that nasty?

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The fisher is a member of the weasel family, so right there we know they have trouble potential. Who likes a weasel? So, if I see a fisher will I be attacked? Bitten, Clawed to death? What will happen in a fisher vs. human encounter?

The diet of the fisher cat include rabbits, squirrels, mice, and the meat of a dead white-tailed deer. They have even been known to be the only North American mammal that can kill and consume porcupines, leaving only the quills behind.

These 'cats' have a bad reputation but according to the New York Department of Environmental Conservation, the fisher is NOT harmful to humans. That doesn't mean you should try to pet one and you should probably keep an eye out for your pets as fisher have been known to hunt smaller mammals in the late evening and early dawn hours of fall.

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Last summer New York DEC conducted a study in the Adirondacks. Fisher were fitted with VHF or GPS transmitters. Wildlife staff were then able to track them throughout the spring and summer to determine survival rates and den tree selection, along with reproductive success of the females.

Not 1 human was harmed in the study.

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