Unit 1 [PDF] - Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources

Fisher. eyewire.com
Front
Rear
Fisher tracks.
Front/Rear
2.5” width by 2” length
Carrion - dead and putrefying
flesh.
Sets for fisher:
• Cubbies
• Leaning Pole Sets
• Dirt hole
Recommended traps or trapping
systems:
• #220 body-grip trap
• #1 1/2 foot-hold
• #1 3/4 foot-hold
• #2 foot-hold
Chapter 4 - Wisconsin’s Furbearer Resource
Trapping Techniques:
In Wisconsin weasels are unprotected and may be trapped year-round by
persons possessing a trapping license. Weasels are most commonly caught in
enclosed cubbies or “weasel boxes”.
Fisher
Martes pennanti; Order: Carnivora; Family: Mustelidae
Description:
Fisher, a member of the weasel family, have long slender bodies that range
in color from gray brown to dark brown to nearly black with a long, tapering,
bushy tail. Fisher may have white spots on their chest, at the base of each front
leg and/or near the groin. Males weigh 7-18 pounds, and females 4-6 pounds.
Adult males measure 35-47 inches in length, with females shorter at 29-37
inches. The animal has two anal scent glands that produce a foul-smelling
liquid. Fisher primarily are nocturnal, traveling mostly on the ground. However,
they are also agile tree climbers and sometimes swim.
Biology:
Fisher breed in March or April, with adult females breeding shortly after giving
birth. The fertilized eggs exhibit delayed implantation and do not start
developing until January or February of the following year. One to five kits are
born in April in a hollow tree, log or rock cavity. The young leave the female
in early fall to find their own home territory.
Fisher are extremely agile and active predators. Excellent tree climbers, they
can out climb red squirrels. They prey upon snowshoe hare, mice, squirrels,
porcupine, and also feed upon carrion, particularly that of deer. Although they
have a reputation for preying on porcupine, snowshoe hare and other small
mammals are much more important in their diets in Wisconsin. Fisher will also
eat insects and berries.
Fisher travel widely with a home range of 50-150 square miles, more if food
is scarce. Males have a larger home range than females. Individual animals frequently
use well defined hunting trails. When feeding on large food items such
as a deer carcass, fisher may confine their activities to the immediate vicinity of
the food source for a period of several days. Fisher are solitary, except during
the breeding season and when young are with the females. The fisher gives off
a foul musk odor when disturbed.
Habitat:
Fisher are found throughout Wisconsin, but more common in the central and
northern regions. Fisher prefer large areas of continuous forest, particularly
Wisconsin Trapper Education Manual 32