I think I caught a Fisher Cat on my game cam?

[Piston]

Does this look like a fisher cat to you?  I've only seen one in the past, back about 9 years ago when I was bow hunting but it didn't come close enough for me to get a real good look.

 

  

 

(Date and time are obviously wrong)

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

I'm not familiar with a Fisher Cat??

[isawlogs]

 I would be more likely to think it is a Marten then a fisher, it looks to have a lighter coloured coating where as the fisher would be uniform in colour.

[JJ]

It could be pine martin.
It is hard to tell since size and face are hard to see.

[red oaks lumber]

looks like a fisher, if you zoom in you can see his tackle box and fishing pole

[JohnM]

Hard to say Piston, nothing for us to scale it to for size.  I've seen a fisher once while hunting.  There is no doubting what you're seeing, they are much larger than martens.  I've also found a porcupine skin on my property, needless to say those fisher can be nasty little buggers.

[thecfarm]

isawlogs could be right. Google both,I did. You want images by the way.    I have never seen a pine martin. I kinda think they are more up where John lives.

[Chuck White]

Nothing for comparative size.

Built more like a Pine Martin than a Fisher though!

A Fisher usually have a humped back whereas the Pine Martin is usually more streamlined!

NOTE: Some places they refer to a Fisher as a "Fisher Cat" others just call them a fisher!

[ReggieT]

Hard to say Piston, nothing for us to scale it to for size.  I've seen a fisher once while hunting.  There is no doubting what you're seeing, they are much larger than martens.  I've also found a porcupine skin on my property, needless to say those fisher can be nasty little buggers.

Wow...didn't think they could take out a porcupine...impressive indeed!!

[Clark]

Considering how dark it is I would say fisher.  Pine marten are more the size of a mink and this thing looks bigger than a mink. If it were the size of a mink you would barely see it's legs but they are plainly visible.  I have no doubt it is a fisher.

Clark

[Piston]

The reason I believe it's a fisher is because there is a lot of "talk" about them in my area.  They are nasty little critters!  Or at least they have that reputation.  We've had 3 cats and all of them disappeared over a short period of time.  I believed it to be a Fisher that killed them but of course I don't really know.  Although, whatever it was, I'm grateful. 

This is what wiki has to say about them...

Males and females are similar in appearance but the males are larger. Males are 90–120 cm (35–47 in) in length and weigh 3.5 to 6 kilograms (8–13 lb). Females measure 75–95 cm (30–37 in) and weigh 2–2.5 kg (4–6 lb). The fur of the fisher varies seasonally, being denser and glossier in the winter. During the summer, the color becomes more mottled, as the fur goes through a moulting cycle. Fishers prefer to hunt in full forest. While they are agile climbers, most of their time is spent on the forest floor. They also prefer to forage where there is fallen dead wood on the forest floor. Fishers are omnivorous and feed on a wide variety of small animals and occasionally fruits and mushrooms. They show a preference for the snowshoe hare and are one of the few predators able to successfully hunt porcupine. Despite their name, fishers seldom eat fish.

Here are a couple other pics that I got on the game cam, maybe it will help with "scale" but probably not, but just for fun.....
 

  

  

  

  

 

[Resolute]

Information about Fisher's from VT Fish and Wildlife at this link -
ww.vtfishandwildlife.com/vtcritters/animals.cfm?cat=mammals&species=Fisher

[RynSmith]

I don't know what it is, but I would be excited to have one on my game cam (if I had one of those  )!

[Roxie]

Cowboy Bob is looking over my shoulder, and he's impressed with the buck!  He said those antlers would look good over the fireplace.   

[bill m]

Fisher, we don't have pine martens in Massachusetts.

[JohnM]

Fisher, we don't have pine martens in Massachusetts.

Piston's got land in NH too.  Not sure where the photo was taken but guessing MA since you said you lost the cats.  Time heals all wounds, P.

Range maps say you don't have fisher in MA either though they do 'dip' closer than marten.  My vote is still marten.

[Corley5]

My parents saw a pine marten in the red pines in our yard a couple years ago.  That's about the time the red squirrel population plummeted    I still only rarely see a red squirrel so I'm pretty sure the martens are still here 

[Piston]

Cowboy Bob is looking over my shoulder, and he's impressed with the buck!  He said those antlers would look good over the fireplace.   

Over MY fireplace that is! 

[Piston]

Piston's got land in NH too.  Not sure where the photo was taken but guessing MA since you said you lost the cats.  Time heals all wounds, P.

Your right John, this is from MA, Upton, MA to be exact.  As far as time healing all wounds, it didn't take long 

I just thought to look on the MA fish and wildlife page, which I should have thought of earlier 
From here: http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/dfg/dfw/fish-wildlife-plants/mammals/fisher-in-mass-generic.html

Habits

Fishers are shy and elusive animals that are rarely seen even in areas where they are abundant. They can be active day or night and tend to exhibit crepuscular (dawn and dusk) and nocturnal activity in the summer and diurnal (daytime) activity in the winter. They remain active year round and do not hibernate. Their preferred habitat is mixed forest with heavy canopy cover as they tend to avoid traveling in large open areas. They commonly use hollow logs, stonewalls, tree cavities, and brush piles as resting sites.

Just cracked the case...it had to be a fisher, according to the Mass Wildlife website there are no Marten's in MA like Bill said.

American Marten:
Extirpated. Formerly central and western Mass. Last known record, Worcester County, 1880. One vagrant from a Vermont release was taken in Worcester County in 1992. A 1993 Worcester County record is believed to be an escape from a fur farm.

Fisher:
Statewide except Dukes & Nantucket counties. Range expansion into Barnstable County first confirmed in 2006.

...However, it looks like the only other thing it could be is a Mink?  Does it look like a Mink?  I don't think I've ever seen one. 

[doctorb]

Been following along.  Sounds(and looks) like a Fisher to me.  Only seen one time by me - in Canada.  But I have seen Mink many times there.  This is definitely NOT a Mink.  Way too big, shape of the head is different, and the tail is way too large in both diameter and length to be a mink.

[bill m]

We have quite a few fisher in my area. Seen their tracks a lot behind my house and where I bow hunt. My B.I.Ls girl friend saw a fisher from her tree stand 2 weeks ago.

[Piston]

My B.I.Ls girl friend saw a fisher from her tree stand 2 weeks ago.

The only time I've seen a Fisher in real life was in my tree stand.  It was just before sunrise and I heard something coming down the hill, sounded like a squirrel in the leaves or something similar, and I slowly looked over, saw the Fisher coming my way, then about 30 yards away he circled a clump of hardwoods and went right back the way he came.  I wish I had my SLR Camera with me at the time! 
The tree I was in at that time, is only 100 yards away from where this pic was taken, in fact if you look in the day time pics you can see the stone wall in the background, it's just on the other side of the stone wall.  That was a good 9 years ago.

Been following along.  Sounds(and looks) like a Fisher to me.  Only seen one time by me - in Canada.  But I have seen Mink many times there.  This is definitely NOT a Mink.  Way too big, shape of the head is different, and the tail is way too large in both diameter and length to be a mink.

Thanks Doc, I say this case is closed     Fisher it is.

[JohnM]

Thanks Doc, I say this case is closed     Fisher it is.

Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, my inner NFL ref/defense lawyer/politician still says marten.   In truth though it's neither here nor there, the fact is it's just plain cool what you can see with those cameras.  I put a friends camera on the gut pile of my last deer (4yrs ago ) and got over 300 photos (3 shot busts of course) in 3-4 days.  The only things that ate it were crows, ravens and 3 bald eagles (two grown and an immature).  Didn't get one other pic day or night of any other kind of animal, skunk, raccoon, coyote, nothing.  Thought that was pretty unusual/cool.

(I'm hoping for more pics of 'it' Piston showing a light bib on the front. )

[Clark]

(I'm hoping for more pics of 'it' Piston showing a light bib on the front. )

Which would prove that it's a fisher, right?  Many fisher have a white spot on their chest, some don't.  Marten tend to have a more orange area on their chest.  Succumb to the evidence, it's a fisher.

Clark

[JohnM]

(I'm hoping for more pics of 'it' Piston showing a light bib on the front. )

Which would prove that it's a fisher, right?

Not from what I've been reading/looking at.  From Wiki:  "American marten usually have a characteristic throat and chest bib ranging in color from pale straw to vivid orange."  "The underside of a fisher is almost completely brown except for randomly placed patches of white or cream-colored fur. In the summer, the fur color is more variable and may lighten considerably."

Succumb to the evidence, it's a fisher.

  In the famous words of one Luke Skywalker, "Never.  I'll never turn to the dark fisherside."

(This is a tough horse... )

[thecfarm]

I really think John is right. Us members for Maine have to stick together.     I did a google on both. I have never neither,but from what I saw on google I would say a marten too. Gotta love the Star Wars.

[RynSmith]

I'm rooting for geographic variation!   

[Ken]

My vote is fisher.  Although I have seen several I do not recall one with that much white on the chest.  Generally they look like a big black cat.  Looks far too big for a marten. 

[pappy19]

I believe it is a Fisher even though I have never seen one in the wild, I have had some experiences with martins. My most memorable was on an elk/deer hunting trip years ago in the Idaho wilderness. An afternoon hunt and I was on a rocky ridge looking down into a small canyon. I heard a noise and out of the woods next to me a martin came out and started to look me over. He was about 25 feet away and was trying to wind me. He kept on coming closer and closer until he was about 10 feet away. At this point he cocked up his leg and *pithed like a dog on a small dead branch on the ground. He then came within 2 feet of me and I moved my foot and he ran off. That was the best wildlife experience that I have ever had, even as a forester in the woods all day for many years. Martins are fairly common in Idaho and their main diet is the red pine squirrel with an occasional grouse. Martins are a reddish-brown with lighter colors at the tips. I have a really nice martin skin hat thet I got in Alaska. The pictures that I have seen of fishers shows that their fur is dark brown and they are much larger than a martin.

Pap

[SwampDonkey]

Fisher. I've seen them on occasion, mostly along the woods roads near streams. Mostly because that's where the mature woods are left along the buffers. My grandfather and his brother were fir trappers, but that certainly doesn't make me an expert by a long shot. But I have seen all kind of martens and many of them in a logging camp. Did I ever tell the tale of the marten in the lunch bag? Maybe so. 

[Dave Shepard]

Did you try petting it on the head? If it bites off one finger, it's a marten, if it gets two or more, most likely a fisher.

[ReggieT]

  good one!

[Magicman]

Oh my.....         

[ReggieT]

We've got some super sized swamp rabbits & rather burly/mean possums in my area...kinda like to see how a fisher or martin would fare one on one against either of them!! 

[RynSmith]

My money is on that one (the marten/fisher).  Let me know when it's time. 

[SwampDonkey]

A fisher will kill and eat a porcupine and use the quills as a toothpick. So them rabbits would be a nice treat.

[Piston]

According to the MA hunting abstracts, I can trap, but not hunt fishers.  Looks like I'm going to have to trap this bugger simply to settle the debate   

But like John says, regardless of what it is, it's neat to see.  Plus, it gives us something to talk about 

[thecfarm]

Trap it alive and do the finger test.   

[Piston]

Trap it alive and do the finger test. 

I'll trap it, and bring it to you for the finger test 

[thecfarm]

Hey,don't bring it to me. Bring it to Dave. He's the one that came up with the finger identification idea.