TWRA has stocked 20 fishers in the Catoosa Wildlife Management Area.
Add another species of wildlife to the long list that already exists in Tennessee. The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency recently stocked 20 fishers in the Catoosa Wildlife management Area north of Crossville, Tenn.
If you’re like me, you had no idea that fishers ever existed in the Volunteer State. I thought they were pretty much confined to the climates to the far north where only conifers and birch trees grow. But apparently I’m wrong.
TWRA folks tell me that fishers did once exist in these parts, and in the words from a once well-known movie... “they’re back.”
But the fishers came back with absolutely no fanfare. In fact, it seems there was somewhat of a secretive nature to the October release. There were no news releases or announcements and sources say Commissioners told biologists to keep it low-key. Larry Marcum, TWRA’s Chief of Wildlife Management says, “there was some concern, they didn't want it to be a major story.” However Wildlife Commissioner Charles Peavyhouse said he doesn’t know anything about an effort to keep the fisher release under wraps, “I don't know, I leave that part of it up to (TWRA staff),” said Peavyhouse.
Secret or not, the fisher once again roams the Upper Cumberland Plateau. Ten of the animals sport radio transmitters, ten do not.
The fisher is the least known member of the weasel family.
In the North, the fisher is uniquely adapted to preying on the porcupine. Unlike longer-legged animals that can only strike this quill-covered creature from above, fishers are the same height as porcupines and can fight face to face. Quickness, agility and effective biting help this weasel-shaped animal to avoid a porcupine's back and tail and concentrate on rapidly striking the unprotected face and belly.
A fisher climbing up a tree can swivel around and descend head first, just like a squirrel.
Unsheathed claws enable it to grasp the tree trunk. Its extremely mobile hind limbs are able to rotate 180 degrees. If a porcupine under attack puts his face against a tree trunk in defence, a fisher can climb onto the tree and force the porcupine away. Fishers rarely suffer from quill wounds.
Normally, a fisher travels with the bounding gait typical of weasels. The forelimbs move together and the hind limbs land squarely in the same tracks of the forefeet.
Male fishers are nearly twice the size of female fishers, ranging from about 1 to 3 pounds.
The life cycle of the fisher begins every spring when kits are born and adults mate. In March or April, a female will give birth in a protected nursery den. Such a nest may be high in a hollow tree with a woodpecker hole or low in a crevice between rocks. Litter sizes vary from one to five kits.
After four months, the kits are weaned and begin to hunt on their own. In autumn, the family breaks up and each member begins its solitary life.
The only time these solitary animals meet up with others is during the mating season. This time is approximately two weeks after mature females have given birth. However, the fertilized egg remains in "storage" in the female's uterus for 10-11 months. With increasing day length in the following spring, the egg implants in the uterine wall and begins to develop. Pregnancy lasts approximately 30 days. With this method of reproduction, female fishers are always in a state of pregnancy. While "delayed implantation" is not rare among mammals, the fisher has the longest period.
Fishers can travel long distances in short periods of time. They have been known to move up to 160 km in a single summer, but the normal home range for an adult male is 20 square kilometers. With its scent glands, the fisher marks its territory.
Fishers use a variety of sites for sleeping. These sites include hollow trees, logs, stumps, brush piles, rock falls, abandoned beaver lodges and tree nests. During severe winter weather, fishers may den up for a few days.
Fortunately for the Tennessee fishers, they eat more than porcupines. They can live on small mammals such as rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks, mice and voles. They’ll find an abundance of all of those creatures on the Catoosa WMA. These are killed with a swift bite to the neck and, depending on their size, may be swallowed whole. The fisher will also feed on small birds, carrion, berries and lichens.
Even in places where they are abundant, count yourself fortunate if you ever see a fisher. Just like their close cousins, the weasel, they are elusive little beasts.