Elusive fisher and kits captured on Westmoreland County trail cam
The wildlife camera company PixCams has been keeping tabs on fishers in the Murrysville area since one was caught on footage last July. As the large weasel-like creature continued to appear, it was believed that it had taken up residence somewhere nearby the camera.
PixCams on Sunday shared four new clips of the fishers, including one that appears to show two kits playing and knocking the camera over on the afternoon of July 5. Experts say it's especially exciting because it confirms there's a breeding pair in the area.
Fishers are elusive and secretive creatures that were once extirpated in Pennsylvania, meaning they were extinct in the state.
Fishers are mid-sized carnivores that primarily eat small mammals like squirrels, chipmunks and mice. They're also renowned for their ability to prey upon porcupines. And while there is evidence of fisher predation on white-tailed deer, the Game Commission says the effects are thought to be limited.
The Pennsylvania Game Commission says fishers disappeared from the state sometime around the nineteenth century, though it's hard to pinpoint exactly when because the creatures are so secretive and records are scarce.
It's believed fishers were distributed throughout most of the state before intensive deforestation during the nineteenth century. Historical accounts also suggest that populations initially began to decline in southwestern Pennsylvania due to early colonial development, the Game Commission says.
Pennsylvania's current-day fisher population is the result of natural expansion from neighboring states in the 70s and reintroduction programs in the 90s.
"Today, fisher populations are well established and increasing throughout southwestern, central and northern regions of the state, and fisher have become established even in some rural and suburban habitats once thought unsuitable for this adaptive forest carnivore," the Game Commission says on its website.
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