As I mentioned a couple weeks ago, we installed outdoor cameras in December 2017 and have amassed a fun collection of animal videos over the last year and a quarter. Many are of the usual suspects — raccoons, rabbit, squirrels, deer — but a few have stood out as rather extraordinary. I want to share my favourite one with you today.
Check this out. It’s a fisher!
I wasn’t sure, when I reviewed the video, what I was seeing. I could tell it was a mustelid, a member of the “weasel family”. So I mentally ran through the list of common species nearby — minks, least weasels, and otters — all those long, slinky animals.
My first instinct was to look at that long body and thick dragging tail and think otter. But otters don’t traipse around at 2:00 in the morning. And it didn’t move like an otter. Size-wise, it couldn’t be a mink and weasel. They are are much smaller.
That left me with one remaining suspect — the fisher.
Now I have never seen a fisher here and, until a few months ago, didn’t even think they were in this area. But earlier this winter my neighbour up the hill caught a still shot of one on his trail cam. I couldn’t believe it when I saw it. We have fishers here! What are the chances I’d ever see one?
I went to Science Twitter for confirmation.
Alright #TeamMustelid, who did I catch on my cam last night? If this is a fisher cat in my yard, then omg! Other known locals include otter (at 2am?) and smaller mustelids..mink, various weasels. This feels many stoats large. #2019MMM pic.twitter.com/pyHQml5N2F
— Kimberly Moynahan 🇺🇸🇨🇦 (@Kim_Moynahan) March 21, 2019
I included screen captures and photos of the animal’s footprints to help with the ID.

L: Hindfoot print R: Forefoot print. Fishers have five toes on each foot, with unsheathed, retractable claws. Their feet are large, making it easier for them to move on top of snow packs. In addition to the toes, four central pads are on each foot. On the hind paws are coarse hairs that grow between the pads and the toes, giving them added traction when walking on slippery surfaces. Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fisher_(animal)
And the replies were unanimous —
Our vote is fisher too!
— Fieldworkblog (@fieldworkblog) March 24, 2019
Looks like a fisher to me?
— John Clare (@John_D_Clare) March 21, 2019
Most fishers I’ve seen have been a bit stockier than that, but the tail seems pretty spot on. I’d go for fisher
— Matt Wilson (@mattymuffffins) March 21, 2019

Fisher etymology: Despite its name, the fisher is not known to eat fish. The name derives from “fitch”, a word for the European polecat (Mustela putorius) due their similarities. In colonial Dutch it is fisse or visse and in French, the pelt of a polecat is also called fiche or fichet. Credit info: Wikipedia. Photo by http://www.ForestWander.com, CC BY-SA 3.0
“He was on my head spinning in circles, trying to get a grip, biting and clawing … I couldn’t get him off.” — Roberto Giugovaz (Kingston Whig Standard)
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