Meet the Lonely Fisher

On this week's show we'll discuss the fisher; a large, carnivorous, forest-dwelling weasel that prefers to go it alone, but has made quite a comeback in these Catskill Mountains and New York State overall.

Fishers are sometimes misleadingly referred to as fisher cats. This may stem from the name "fisher" being closely related to the word "fitch", meaning a European Polecat (Mustela putorius) but... it's more likely the close visual resemblance and comparable size to a domestic cat. They are sexually dimorphic, meaning the male is much larger than the female.

Despite the name "fisher", the animal is not known to eat fish. Their primary prey is snowshoe hares and porcupines, but supplement their diet with berries, mushrooms, nuts, and insects, and are not averse to eating carrion.