Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
The skunk is a polecat.
Badgers are rather placid and benign.
The wolverine is virtually the devil incarnate.
Oil spills have killed most sea otters in Alaska.
THE STOREKEEPER ASKED ME WHAT SORT OF ANIMAL HE HAD SEEN BOUNDING
ACROSS THE ROAD IN FRONT OF HIM: HIS DESCRIPTION WAS A PERFECT MATCH
American marten
;
fisher
;
long-tailed weasel
FOR THE FISHER, BUT HE SHOOK HIS HEAD WHEN I TOLD HIM SO. “No,” he said, “it was
nothing like a cat.” He was not an ignorant person, but he was the victim of a very common wildlife
misunderstanding—that of the “fisher cat.”
Far from being a cat, the fisher is a midsized member of the weasel family, among the most diverse
and extraordinary groups of mammals.
Known to scientists as mustelids—the name ultimately stems from Latin
mus,
mouse, possibly be-
cause weasels are preeminent mousers—this family has exploited an extremely wide range of ecologic-
al niches. Their extraordinary diversity has required major adaptations in form and function, with the
result that some members of the weasel tribe bear scant resemblance to anything we might think of as
weasels.
