A slender North American predator not seen in parts of Ohio for 200 years has started returning to its former habitat.
The fisher was extirpated from the state in the 19th century due to fur trapping. Back in 2013, it was spotted again for the first time in northern Ashtabula County, and since then they have become more frequent, with 56 sightings made in the following 12 years.
This relative of the weasel has seemingly spread south from Ashtabula into Trumbull, Portage, Mahoning, and Columbiana counties.
Now, the first sighting has been made in Cuyahoga County, home of the Cleveland Metropolitan Area, and it was Cleveland Metroparks, the city’s parks and wildlife division, that recorded the sighting.
“This is tremendously exciting, as this is yet another extirpated native Ohio mammal species to be documented for the first time in Cleveland Metroparks,” the division said in a statement.
“The return of fishers and other extirpated species like otters, bobcats and trumpeter swans are a result of conservation efforts and emphasize the importance of our healthy forests, wetlands, waterways and natural areas in Cleveland Metroparks.”
A member of the family Mustelidae which includes martens, stoat, minks, ferrets, badgers, wolverines, otters, and weasels, the fisher is about the size of a housecat. They hunt primarily rabbits, hares, and porcupines, and have no natural predators. In fact, these successful hunters will target prey much larger than themselves, like wild turkey and raccoon. There have been 14 recorded instances of a fisher killing a Canadian lynx.
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In Cuyahoga County, Metroparks staff say they aren’t sure if the fisher they saw in the trail camera footage is just passing through or making a home for itself. Mostly solitary recluses, more data will be needed to answer this question.
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