Latest news with #carnivores
CBS News
16-07-2025
- General
- CBS News
Elusive fisher and kits captured on Westmoreland County trail cam
Two fisher kits were captured on a trail camera in Westmoreland County, confirming that the species, which was once extinct in Pennsylvania, is breeding in the area. 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.
Yahoo
28-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Nature: Bobcats are making a comeback in population in Ohio
Some of the most iconic mammals on Earth are large carnivores: lions, polar bears, tigers, snow leopards and many others. Unfortunately, nearly two-thirds of them are at risk of extinction due to the hand of man. Ohio once had a thriving suite of carnivores, including bears (more precisely an omnivore), mountain lions, wolves and bobcats. But as our human population flourished, these animals suffered. At the time of statehood, 1803, there were about 45,000 settlers of European descent. Today, the Buckeye State's human population is pushing 12 million. Bobcats, mountain lions and wolves vanished by 1855, victims of human persecution. People, in general, do not like larger predatory animals and do not want them around. Tangential to the disappearance of these charismatic mammals was the tremendous loss of the state's forests. At the time of settlement, 95% of Ohio was blanketed in rich tapestries of various woodland types. By the mid-1800s, most of that had been cleared, leading to the extirpation of another large mammal, the elk, a common prey item for mountain lions and wolves. Almost unimaginable, today, white-tailed deer and wild turkey had been vanquished from Ohio by the early 1900s. But people can right their wrongs, sometimes. Now, nearly one-third of Ohio is forested again, and that has allowed some forest-dependent animals to proliferate, perhaps most conspicuously the aforementioned deer and turkey. Far more exciting, to me, is the return of the charismatic bobcat, our only extant wild cat. In 1946, a bobcat was confirmed in Scioto County, the first record in nearly a century. Their numbers steadily increased, although bobcats remained rare for many more decades. Nature: The beauty of a red-shouldered hawk As forest cover has improved, bobcats have proliferated and they were removed from the Division of Wildlife's endangered and threatened list in 2014. While tenacious and scrappy, some readers have housecats that eclipse the average bobcat in size. While bobcats can range from 15 to 40 pounds, the average weight is around 22 pounds. A big Maine coon cat is larger. In keeping with its size, bobcat prey items are generally small, and rodents like white-footed mice and voles, along with rabbits, are their stock in trade. While bobcats are primarily nocturnal, they'll take day-active creatures like chipmunks and squirrels if chance permits. While I shouldn't even have to waste space on this, humans have absolutely nothing to fear from Lynx rufus. Wise creatures that they are, bobcats generally avoid us like the plague. No human has ever been killed by a bobcat, and attacks are nearly unknown. Since 1970, bobcats have been documented in all but 11 of Ohio's 88 counties. As would be expected, the largest numbers occur in the rough wooded hill country of southern and southeastern Ohio. According to Division of Wildlife data, Noble County is No. 1 with 340 reports. Numbers drop dramatically in the glaciated flatlands to the east, but there have been five reports from Franklin County. The return of the bobcat should only be considered a positive — unless you are a mouse — and they are furry stub-tailed proof that we can reclaim human-induced environmental damage. Nature: Clyde Gosnell and Omie Warner are extraordinary conservationists Bobcats' greatest foe today is vehicles. Vehicle strikes account for up to 20% of annual bobcat mortality. A car collision victim was recently brought to the Ohio Wildlife Center (OWC); she is the animal in my accompanying photo. While not badly injured, she suffered some neurological issues that have rendered her unreleasable. Shauna Weyrauch, a researcher and senior lecturer at OSU's Newark campus, has been studying Ohio's bobcats for the past decade. Through the use of trail cams and other tactics, she has unearthed many interesting facets of bobcat behavior and ecology. Weyrauch will be giving a program about bobcats on Aug. 9 at 6:30 p.m. at the Ohio Wildlife Center, 9000 Dublin Road in Powell. Attendees will have the chance to see the bobcat whose image runs with this column. To register, visit Naturalist Jim McCormac writes a column for The Dispatch on the first and third Sundays of the month. He also writes about nature at jim This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Bobcats grow numbers in Ohio
