Will a fisher attack a house cat? This predator becoming more widespread in New York state

One animal that is showing up more and more frequently on my trail cams is a relatively new arrival in Western New York, the fisher.

The fisher is a member of the weasel family. It hunts on land and in trees; it's really not much of a fish eater, as its name might imply, compared to its close cousin, the smaller mink.

One of my cameras captured a photo of a fisher carrying a small animal, possibly a black cat, in its mouth.

The DEC and other wildlife management concerns admit that there is indeed scientific evidence that fishers will, on occasion, prey on housecats but emphasize that many of the reports from cat owners who have lost their pets and blame fishers are anecdotal and inconclusive.

Since we live on the edge of town, it is common to see housecats strolling by when spending any time doing yard work or house maintenance.

The woods seem at times alive with housecats, as they stalk and hunt birds and small animals such as mice and chipmunks.

In fact, according to researchers, housecats kill more than 1 billion songbirds each year.

My trail cameras in different woodlots chronicle a surprising number of housecats, usually stalking through the woods, undoubtedly on a hunt, before kitty cat goes back to its house and bowl of food.

There are few predators that will take on a grown housecat; even most dogs shy away. Coyotes and great horned owls have been known to kill housecats, but the fisher is another, and perhaps more of a lethal threat to kitty cats that are allowed to roam the woods and fields.

Fisher’s fur, greatly prized by furriers, similar to the Eurasian Sable, can range from light brown almost tawny to nearly black. Their pelts are used to make luxurious coats and jackets.

Trappers consider catching a fisher a real prize, as there is still a significant demand especially in the international markets for big fur coats.

With its long tail and with males measuring up to four feet long, tipping the scales at nearly 15 pounds it would stand to reason that some of our local "mountain lion" sightings could actually be attributed to the fisher.

Fishers are voracious predators, preying upon everything from even fox to porcupines, but mostly smaller animals. Rodents such as squirrels make up the bulk of their diet.

Interestingly, even if a porcupine climbs a tree in an attempt to flee from the fisher, the big weasel can climb above it and bite the doomed porky in the face where it is not protected by its quills.

A fisher's claws can pivot 180 degrees, giving the fisher a secure toehold in the tree above the porky, upside down.

There have been many reports of fishers predating upon housecats, especially in the more common northern ranges such as the Adirondacks and Canada.

But now, as this large weasel expands its range and population into the Southern Tier after being introduced first into the Catskills in the 1980s and North Central Pa. in the 1990s, housecats are coming up missing.

There are reports from Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine where housecats have been preyed upon by fishers.

While hunting, I have seen a number of fishers.

One I recall well was carefully hunting chipmunks and mice in an old pile of fieldstones.

Another was chasing a grey squirrel in a tree. The fisher was amazingly quick and agile. At first I thought it was a pine marten, another large weasel, but smaller than the fisher. The pine marten’s reintroduction is being considered by the Pa. Game Commission. And if carried out, one could expect an expanding population to spill over into the Southern Tier counties of Western New York, as did the fisher.

The female fisher has a relatively small home range, about two square miles, while males can range up to 30 square miles. So these travelers can show up anywhere at anytime as they are equally capable of hunting day and night.

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As a member of the weasel family, they are ferocious and smaller than their famous and legendary cousin, the wolverine.

Other cousins of the fisher are the diminutive weasel, the water-loving mink, and the tree climbing marten.

New York State does have a trapping season for fishers now in the Southern Tier counties, running five days, from Oct. 25 to Oct. 30. The trapping season for fisher in the eastern and northern part of New York, where the fisher population is greater, also starts Oct. 25, but runs through Dec. 10.

— Oak Duke writes a weekly column.

This article originally appeared on The Evening Tribune: The fisher is expanding its range across New York state