The Fisher Has Returned. Or is it a Mink?

Nicole sent us a video from her home night vision camera that is two blocks from Shark River Park in Neptune Township. She believes it captured fishers in her yard. She saw at least 3 of them - 2 near her landscaping bed (seen in the screen grabs here) and at least one near the street.

Nicole says they look a bit like minks but are larger than any minks she has seen in the area. It's a tough identification - especially from the video - as the two look very similar.

We get several of these identification reports or questions each month and it is difficult to say for sure without the opportunity to examine the specimen up close (teeth, paws, etc.) Earlier someone commented with a link to a photo of a vulture with what appeared to be a small fisher.

Yes, you can and should report sightings of rare wildlife.

The mink is not threatened in NJ and has a trapping season. The fisher (Martes pennanti) was extirpated almost 100 years ago. That doesn't mean the fisher is extinct. That is when there is the complete disappearance of a species. Extirpation, also called local extinction, is the disappearance of a species only from a given area.

It is sometimes called a "fisher cat" or Appalachian black cat. It does look like a blend of a fluffy cat and a fox. But it's a lot meaner - closer to a wolverine.

Oddly enough, it is not a feline and it does not catch fish. It is in The fisher is a member of the Mustelidae family, which includes otters, badgers, martens, ferrets, minks, and wolverines.

Can you tell the difference between these two specimens?  One is a mink, one is a fisher.

Fisher or mink?               images via wikipedia commons

Fisher or Mink?

Through no efforts by the state's wildlife agencies, the fisher is again present in at least Sussex and Warren counties based on trappings by state officials. There are not many and they probably arrived because of re-introduction by New York and Pennsylvania in the last decade.

The fisher is a top predator but it disappeared from our state due to trapping for its pelt and because excessive logging practices during the 19th and 20th centuries caused populations beyond NJ and across its entire range.

This website has received reports on sightings, photos caught by trail cameras and anecdotal stories and questions from homeowners.

Did Nicole capture images of fishers?  It's possible. 

Want to know the answer to the identification of the two photos above? Take a look here and here.