[stumpstalker]

From:

WINTERBERRY WILDLIFE

January 9, 2019 Janet Pesaturo

“Do Fishers slide?...”

“The fisher and its cousin the river otter often create tracks and trail patterns of similar appearance. If tracking conditions are poor and tracks are unclear, distinguishing between these two mustelids can be tricky business. However in snow, otters usually slide frequently, creating a characteristic toboggan-like impression. But do fishers slide, as well? Not very often, and I don’t know if they ever really slide for the purpose of efficient travel, as otters do. Maybe they do, but my interpretation of the fisher “slides” that I have found so far, was that the animal was dragging and rubbing its underside, probably for the purpose of scent marking, maybe for grooming, but not sliding to move quickly. For this reason, I prefer to call these “drags” rather than “slides”, for the latter implies a similarity to what the otter is doing….”