Fishing for the Truth about Fishers
Fisher photographed in Presque Isle county
Winter 2014
By: Dr Pat Rusz, Director of Wildlife Programs
In a November-December 2012 article in the Wildlife Volunteer, a publication of the Michigan Wildlife Conservancy, I wrote about a quiet controversy over the status on fishers in Michigan's Lower Peninsula. Like a similar but smaller weasel, the pine marten, the cat-sized fisher was thought by wildlife officials to have disappeared from our state prior to World War II. Some naturalists suspected both species survived in small numbers, but authoritative books parroted statements from other biologists that intensive trapping and loss of habitat had eliminated the valued fur-bearers.
Pine martens and fishers were declared extirpated in Michigan, and reintroductions by the DNR, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the U.S. Forest Service began in the 1950s. Restocking with animals from Canada was somewhat successful for the pine martens in both the Lower and Upper Peninsulas. Fishers were also planted (beginning in 1961) in the U.P.
The story took an interesting turn in 2006 when researchers found by genetic analyses that the pine marten had never completely disappeared - that remnant populations remained in the Upper Peninsula. This was not widely reported, and although naturalists continued to report fisher sightings and evidence such as tracks and scat from Emmet and Cheboygan Counties south as far as the Traverse City area, the fisher continued to be "officially gone" from the Lower Peninsula.
In spring 2013, Melissa and Nate Sayers of Onaway in Presque Isle County spotted a "ball of fur" in a tree and snapped pictures of a fisher. The DNR eventually confirmed that the photos were legitimate documentation of a fisher in the Lower Peninsula. Whether the animal was part of a remnant population has not been proved, but it is unlikely fishers readily cross the Straits of Mackinaw. The Sayers' photos don't completely solve the controversy about fishers in the Lower Peninsula, but they should rekindle interest in the status of fishers.
The clear lessons are that we have much yet to learn about Michigan's rare animals and citizens are important in the quest for better understanding of our wildlife heritage. In the past ten years, citizens have documented several species - ranging from cougars to wolverines to a nesting great gray owl - that are "not supposed to be here." The proliferation of trail cameras and the many pocket-sized models are making documentation easier. But equally important is the recognition that non-biologists can help clear up wildlife mysteries.
Fishers weigh up to 18 pounds and although mostly nocturnal, also hunt in daylight. They are capable of acrobatic catches of prey ranging from mice to birds to squirrels among the limbs of tall trees and can kill animals much larger than themselves on the ground.
By: Dr Pat Rusz, Director of Wildlife Programs
In a November-December 2012 article in the Wildlife Volunteer, a publication of the Michigan Wildlife Conservancy, I wrote about a quiet controversy over the status on fishers in Michigan's Lower Peninsula. Like a similar but smaller weasel, the pine marten, the cat-sized fisher was thought by wildlife officials to have disappeared from our state prior to World War II. Some naturalists suspected both species survived in small numbers, but authoritative books parroted statements from other biologists that intensive trapping and loss of habitat had eliminated the valued fur-bearers.
Pine martens and fishers were declared extirpated in Michigan, and reintroductions by the DNR, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the U.S. Forest Service began in the 1950s. Restocking with animals from Canada was somewhat successful for the pine martens in both the Lower and Upper Peninsulas. Fishers were also planted (beginning in 1961) in the U.P.
The story took an interesting turn in 2006 when researchers found by genetic analyses that the pine marten had never completely disappeared - that remnant populations remained in the Upper Peninsula. This was not widely reported, and although naturalists continued to report fisher sightings and evidence such as tracks and scat from Emmet and Cheboygan Counties south as far as the Traverse City area, the fisher continued to be "officially gone" from the Lower Peninsula.
In spring 2013, Melissa and Nate Sayers of Onaway in Presque Isle County spotted a "ball of fur" in a tree and snapped pictures of a fisher. The DNR eventually confirmed that the photos were legitimate documentation of a fisher in the Lower Peninsula. Whether the animal was part of a remnant population has not been proved, but it is unlikely fishers readily cross the Straits of Mackinaw. The Sayers' photos don't completely solve the controversy about fishers in the Lower Peninsula, but they should rekindle interest in the status of fishers.
The clear lessons are that we have much yet to learn about Michigan's rare animals and citizens are important in the quest for better understanding of our wildlife heritage. In the past ten years, citizens have documented several species - ranging from cougars to wolverines to a nesting great gray owl - that are "not supposed to be here." The proliferation of trail cameras and the many pocket-sized models are making documentation easier. But equally important is the recognition that non-biologists can help clear up wildlife mysteries.
Fishers weigh up to 18 pounds and although mostly nocturnal, also hunt in daylight. They are capable of acrobatic catches of prey ranging from mice to birds to squirrels among the limbs of tall trees and can kill animals much larger than themselves on the ground.