Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
comes to killing their prey; they couldn't survive otherwise. The fisher is no more ferocious than most
other predators, however, and indeed seems to be rather less fierce than many in its attitude toward hu-
mans.
Henry Laramie, a biologist with the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department for many years,
asserts that fishers are very docile as far as humans are concerned. He once handled twenty-five fishers
that were still in live traps; to prove this very point, he touched each fisher on the nose with his index
finger as soon as he arrived at a trap. Not a single fisher bit him! On other occasions, Laramie had wild
fishers loose in his car, running across his lap and shoulders; again, he suffered no bites. So much for
the notion that fishers are incredibly ferocious!
The reproductive habits of the fisher, including delayed implantation, are quite similar to those of
weasels (see below). The peak of their breeding season is in March, only about a week after the females
give birth to a litter that averages three kits. The fertilized eggs remain free in the uterus for nearly el-
even months; then they implant and begin to grow only about thirty-five days before the birth of the
young.
The kits are born in a small cavity in a tree, usually about twenty feet above the ground. They are
poorly developed at birth and don't even open their eyes for at least fifty days. From that point on,
however, they mature rapidly and are able to be on their own by the onset of winter.
In summary, it can be said that the fisher has evolved as a medium-sized predator, primarily terrestri-
al but with substantial arboreal capabilities. Though frequently and unjustly maligned, it's an important
part of the forest ecosystem within its range. This is especially true in regard to controlling porcupines.
Further, the fisher is an extremely valuable furbearer. It deserves, and is generally receiving, manage-
ment that assures its survival.
WEASELS
Weasels have long had an unsavory reputation. We speak of a person as weaseling out of an agreement,
or having a weasel face. There is also an underlying, though often unspoken, assumption that weasels
are horrid, nasty little beasts, evil, cruel, and bloodthirsty.
In some ways this reputation is hard to account for. Viewed dispassionately, weasels, fierce little
predators though they may be, present quite a different aspect: with their bright, beady eyes, alert and
inquisitive faces, lithe movements, and relative fearlessness around humans, weasels can easily be seen
as cute little creatures that are fun to watch.
More than likely, it was the weasel's occasional depredations on flocks of chickens and other do-
mestic fowl, in a simpler time when most people lived on the land and raised their own chickens and
ducks, that aroused much of this ire. And although one can understand the wrath of a farmer who found
