Fisher Big Attraction At Picton Fair

FISHER BIG ATTRACTION AT PICTON FAIR

Wednesday, September 19, 2007 (Napanee Beaver)

Friday, September 21, 2007 (Picton Gazette)

If there is one thing I learned at Picton Fair this year, it’s that animals seem to draw people. I had the pleasure during this annual fall event of being one of several who staffed a large display, advertising the Prince Edward Land Stewardship Council. At that display, we had several animal species on exhibit, including an immature bald eagle. While its purpose was to draw visitors to the booth, it was also a strong message about the important role that predators play in the natural scheme of things.

A few, obviously not comfortable with wildlife, observed from a distance, even though the animals on display were only specimens, and therefore, quite dead. In contrast, a very young girl slowly approached the red fox, and kissed it ever so tenderly on the nose.

But it was the fisher to which most visitors to our booth gravitated, and stories of personal experiences with this relative newcomer to the Quinte area ran rampant all weekend. The questions ranged from simple curiosity to the more direct, “When are ‘you’ going to get rid of them, and why did ‘they’ release them?” It is a common misconception that fishers were mysteriously released by the Ministry of Natural Resources, the same agency blamed for the appearance of bobcats, and more recently, a cougar. Where the rumour started that the MNR released anything is in itself a mystery, but it always surfaces whenever something new appears in the area. Fishers actually came into the area, quite on their own, having come in from the Adirondacks, then into Kingston, and finally into the Prince Edward County and Belleville areas about five or six years ago. The name, fisher, is actually a misnomer as they have no particular fondness for fish. The fisher apparently got its label from the French word fitchet, used to describe a European polecat, another member of the Mustelid (weasel) family. Only the otter is larger than the fisher, and like all members of the weasel family, they have that same loping gait when running.

There is no denying that this is a predator with an attitude. Many visitors to our booth used the term “vicious” to describe the manner in which these predators hunt. But a predator’s life is not one in which faint hearts win fair maidens, so to speak. A predator’s life is one in which efficiency in what they do is necessary for survival. And like it or not, fishers are not about to leave anytime soon. No amount of hunting, shooting, trapping, cursing their existence, or frantic calls to Animal Control, will change anything. However, their numbers will never increase beyond the amount of prey that is locally available. That is the law of Nature. Unlike some predators, fishers are a solitary hunter, and they maintain low population densities, but an extremely large home range. They are opportunistic hunters, and whatever is in abundance, is the special of the day to them.

Are fishers to blame for the disappearance of cats? Well, not entirely. While a cat to a fisher is no different than any other convenient prey, and an abundance of feral cats may indeed encourage fishers to populate a given area, many people are far too quick to place the blame entirely on fishers. There are lots of predators out there, including coyotes, who prey on household pets, and other explanations for the disappearance of cats. While anything within reason is fair game to a fisher, we have to remember that this is a predator that weighs no more than 20 pounds. It will not pull down an 800-pound steer, and they don’t have superhuman powers, able to tear down doors in their quest for food as legend would have us believe!

Wildlife managers stress that fishers are here to stay, and they urge us to get used to it. Nature herself is forcing pet owners to finally take responsibility for their pets, and not leave them unattended as many routinely have done in the past. The days of outdoor cats, for example, are long gone. A cat wandering around at night now, is surely doomed and its days are numbered. And while fishers are primarily nocturnal hunters and tend to avoid urban areas, sightings, at least in the Quinte area, suggest that the fisher is a highly adaptable animal, as much at home in a Picton backyard where I saw one this spring, as they are in forested areas.

However, these animals, whether hated, loved or simply tolerated, generated dialogue at the fair, and it was an extremely effective means in introducing the aims and purposes of the Land Stewardship Council. We hope those who dropped into our booth, left better informed.

Next year, we will do our best to have a cougar on display.