what kind of bait do i need to catch a fisher.

[adorable]

I got a phone call this morning warning me about a fisher just 75 feet from my chicken coop. IT took 2 adult cats and 7 kittens last night. IT torn the lattice work of the front porch to get to the kittens. The poor things. NOw we have to catch it. 2 years ago .My son shot one in a tree. I was so upset about it. I just want it caught and moved somewhere else. But i dont know what bait is the best to catch it.Any suggestions .???

 

[bluebirdfarm]

not sure bout the bait , but good luck getting the fisher . i have heard that they are very nasty , i think they will eat anything so i would try catfud.

 

[Silkie's Grandma]

a Fisher is a nasty preator, I have seen them go through a woods & check nearly every squirrl hole for squirrls to eat. I don't know if a live trap will work on them. But, I agree with the other response to try cat food, it works on skunks & raccoon.

 

[Miltonchix]

Mermaids??

 

[debbyluvschickens]

Okay, at the risk of sounding dumb, what is a fisher???

 

[chickfillhay]

A MERMAID!!!!!!!!!

Seriously though. What's a fisher? I gather it is some sort of predator.
Sorry! I've only lived in the country 3 yrs.
I'm a city girl at heart. And I am still getting used to the prehistoric ones we have here in Florida!
In fact, I just dodged a flying cockroach while writing this post!

Edited to add,
DAG!!I must be a slow writer! There was only one post when I started! And everybody took the words right outa my hands!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Miltonchix]

You don't have to worry about fishers in South Fla.
They are a weasel type animal that have the diposition of ticked off wolverine.

 

[bluebirdfarm]

[edit] Description
Adults weigh between 2 and 7 kg (4-15 lbs) and are between 65 and 125 cm (29-47 inches) in length. Males are about twice the size of females, with the smallest females having been recorded being as small as 1.4 kg (3.1 lbs), hardly larger than most other martens, and males at as much as 9 kg (20 lbs). Their coats are darkish brown, with a black tail and legs; some individuals have a cream-colored patch on the chest. All four feet have five toes with retractable claws. Because they can rotate their hind paws 180 degrees, they can grasp limbs and climb down trees head first. A circular patch of hair on the central pad of their hind paws marks plantar glands that give off a distinctive odor, which is believed to be used for communication during reproduction. Fishers are also known for one of their calls, which is often said to sound like a child screaming, and can be mistaken for someone in dire need of help.


[edit] Hunting and diet
Fishers are solitary hunters. Their primary prey include hares, rabbits, squirrels, mice, shrews, and porcupines. Their diet may also contain small birds, fruit and berries, as well as deer in the form of carrion. While fishers and mountain lions are the only regular predators of porcupines, the fisher is the only predator to have a specialized killing technique. As observed by Robert G. Snyder in the Adirondack mountains of New York, a fisher first approaches from the direction the porcupine is facing. The porcupine tries to protect itself by turning to present its tail, covered with quills, to the attacker. The fisher then jumps directly over its prey, forcing the porcupine to keep turning to protect its vulnerable head. A dozen or more such maneuvers suffice to exhaust and confuse the porcupine into a stupor in which it can no longer protect itself. Then, by repeatedly biting and scratching at the porcupine's face, the fisher causes it to bleed to death. The fisher eats the porcupine by flipping the dead animal over and starting with its unprotected belly.

Fishers are also known to eat ground nesting birds such as grouse and turkeys. Often, young of the year and eggs make easy targets. Also, in some areas fishers can become pests to farmers because they will get into a pen and kill large numbers of chickens. Fishers have also been known to eat small pets left outside, such as stray cats and dogs. While this is rare, when densities are high and food resources are low, animals may become desperate.

In 2005 a Boston Globe article told of fishers attacking cats.[1] A July 4, 2007 article in the New York Times raises the possibility that fishers have turned up in Hopewell Township, New Jersey, causing concern among cat owners. Zoologists are skeptical, suggesting other animals could be responsible, observing that it would be difficult for fishers to migrate into the area.[2] A study done in 1979 examined the stomach contents of all fisher trapped in the state of New Hampshire. Cat hairs were found in only one of over 1,000 stomachs.[3] Attacks on domestic cats may be documented, but zoologists suggest a bobcat, coyote, or dog is more likely to kill domestic cats and chickens.


[edit] Reproduction
Female fishers first breed at one year of age. The fisher breeding season spans late February through late April. There is a ten-month delay after breeding before implantation of the blastocyst phase of the embryo occurs, resulting in a one-year gestation period. Litters are produced annually. The young are born in dens high up in hollow trees.

Kits nurse for about 4 months and begin to eat meat before they are weaned. The kits' cries mimic that of baby kittens.


[edit] Distribution
Fishers are solitary. They do not congregate and only associate with other fishers for mating purposes. Historically, fishers have tended to hide deep in wooded areas and completely avoid open spaces. Recent studies, as well as anecdotal evidence, suggest that the highly adaptable fishers have begun making inroads into suburban backyards, farmland, and even semi-urban areas.[4]

The fisher is found from the Sierra Nevada in California to the Appalachians in West Virginia and north to New England (where it is often called a fisher cat), as well as in southern Alaska and across most of Canada. Fishers are present in low density in the Rocky Mountains, where most populations are the result of reintroductions. There is recent evidence, however, that a Montana population persisted in a refugium despite extensive fur trapping in the area during the 1800s and 1900s. They have spread from Vermont into southern New Hampshire and north-central Massachusetts, and have recently been reintroduced in Michigan and Pennsylvania. [5] Fishers are most often found in coniferous or mixed forests with high, continuous canopy cover. On 27 January 2008, fishers were reintroduced in the Olympic National Park in Washington State. Fishers, native to Washington, have not been known to exist anywhere in the state for generations, because of overtrapping in the 1800s and early 1900s and the loss of old-growth forests. Fishers have recently been reintroduced in Montana, Oregon, and in total, about 35 other fisher transfers have been done across the country [1].

 

[amazondoc]

They are sorta kinda a giant weasel. Not a friendly critter.

Edited to add photo -- let's see if I can make this work --

 

[dacjohns]

Better check your trapping laws.