camp ripley and arden hills minnesota army national guard training ...

Ground and aerial tracking were used to monitor movements and survival of four radiocollared
fisher through 2009. Fisher #466 was captured in September 2008. Radio locations
were obtained for this fisher through February 2009 when its collar fell off. The reception of the
collar frequency had decreased the last several months due to the antennae breaking at the point
where it was sown into the collar material. Fisher #466 was captured on Camp Ripley but spent a
large majority of its time along the east side of the Mississippi River (Figure 51).
Fisher #458 was captured in late February 2009, and only a few radio locations were
obtained for this fisher. It is not known if the fisher spent time off Camp Ripley. It was found
dead in Training Area 65 on May 26, 2009. Fisher #480 was captured in mid-March 2009, and
continued to retain a radio-collar until November 2009. Fisher #461 was captured in mid-
December of 2009. The following paragraphs are the 2009 accomplishments submitted by Lucas
Wandrie, Minnesota State University-Mankato graduate student, Dr. John Krenz, Minnesota State
University-Mankato, and Dr. Bill Faber, Central Lakes College.
Fisher Graduate Project
Efforts to trap and radio-collar fisher for a home-range and habitat use study were
continued in 2009. The 2009 trapping effort totaled 1604 trap nights and yielded the successful
capture of the target species plus 8 non-target species (Table 14). A female (F08-466) captured
during the 2008 season dropped her radio-collar in February 2009 before it could be determined if
she had established a natal den. Two males (F09-458 and F09-480) and one female (F09-461)
were caught and fitted with radio-collars in 2009 (Table 13). One adult male (F09-458) was found
deceased two months after capture and only one triangulated location point had been collected
during the time he was collared. The transmitter on another male (F09-480) began to malfunction
during the summer months. He was successfully recaptured in November but was not refitted
with a new collar because of injury to his neck. His injuries were attended to and he was
released.
A total of 22 location points were gathered for the four fisher in 2009 (Table 15). The
number of location points found for one male and two females were adequate for estimating
home range size. The two females were captured during previous trapping seasons. Home-range
sizes were 3.43, 5.60, and 5.57 km 2 for these three fishers, respectively (Figure 51). Forest metric
data gathered by light detection and ranging information (LiDAR) were used to determine habitat
use preferences by fisher. It appears that the fishers selected areas with more-closed forest
canopies (Figure 52).
2009 Conservation Program Report
Page 78