Perhaps second only to coyotes, fishers (Martes pennanti) are often vilified and blamed for a whole host of occurrences and noises. Fishers get a bad rap as “aggressive” or “dangerous” animals. They are predators, so these animals probably seem fairly aggressive to rabbits, squirrels and mice, but they generally want to keep to themselves as far as humans are concerned.

Although often referred to as “fisher cats”, that name is incorrect; these animals are not closely related to cats at all. In fact, they are the second largest member of the weasel family found in Massachusetts (for reference, the river otter is the largest). Unlike the river otter, however, fishers don’t fish. 

Another misconception about fishers is that they let out a blood curdling scream. Peterson’s Field Guide to Mammals lists their sound as “Usually silent; may hiss, growl or make a throaty call if disturbed.” MassAudubon’s website states that although “there are numerous YouTube sites with recordings attributed to screaming fishers, we believe the actual vocalist is a red fox.” It is also worth noting that none of these videos actually show the animal making the sounds. Another source states that while fishers do make vocalizations, they are not the eerie screeches attributed to them. Instead, the fisher’s vocalizations sound more like an “agitated chuckle”. So, although I think an agitated chuckle would still probably be pretty unsettling to hear if I was in the woods alone at night, if you’re hearing screams, you’re probably hearing a different animal.

Fishers can be active day or night (as evidenced by the videos below). Although it is relatively easy to spot evidence of them from their tracks if there’s snow cover, actually spotting fishers is another thing entirely. I have encountered a fisher only four times face to face. Despite public opinion about the aggressiveness of fishers, each time the animal turned away and headed off in the other direction. And each time, I felt lucky to have had a brief glimpse of these amazing animals. The only exception to the “turning and walking away” reaction was my most recent encounter where two fishers paid me absolutely no mind while they played(?) on the bouncy droopy lower limbs of a white pine. It was like watching kids on a jungle gym. Fishers are solitary animals, so it’s hard to say exactly what was happening. One theory is that perhaps this was a courtship behavior associated with mating and that this was a male-female pair; but May seems a little late for mating in fishers. Alternatively, perhaps it was two young fishers from the same litter recently out of their den and exploring their surroundings. I’d welcome any alternate theories, however, as this was definitely a first for me.