One Less

[Gary Laudermilch]

A mature female I caught harassing deer yesterday.

[winplumber]

Their a beautiful animal but ..........

[Dean Romig]

Now there's a good coyote.





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[Kentucky Bird Hunter]

Agreed, Dean.

They are becoming a really dangerous nuisance here in SC Kentucky.

Dave

[Andy]

We have a LOT of coyotes but our biggest problem now is fisher cats. I have two on my property and apparently illegal to kill. They had babies last year I had them on my trail cam.

[Dean Romig]

Andy, what threat do fishers pose?





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[Andy]

Originally Posted by Dean Romig

Andy, what threat do fishers pose?
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They eat birds, and lots of them. I have a friend who is a wildlife biologist for NY State and he said they eat porcupines (from the butt hole side to gain entrance) and grouse/squirrels/mice and rabbits. They are killing machines. There's a video out there somewhere of one chasing a squirrel down in the tree and killing it. One of my employees had her whole chicken coup killed by one fisher (which she finally saw and killed). Took the heads off all the birds. Worst part is she really couldn't figure out how it got in it was a pretty tight enclosure with netting above.

https://www.nhregister.com/news/arti...t-11588390.php

[Steve Hodges]

Originally Posted by Andrew Sacco

They eat birds, and lots of them. I have a friend who is a wildlife biologist for NY State and he said they eat porcupines (from the butt hole side to gain entrance) and grouse/squirrels/mice and rabbits. They are killing machines. There's a video out there somewhere of one chasing a squirrel down in the tree and killing it. One of my employees had her whole chicken coup killed by one fisher (which she finally saw and killed). Took the heads off all the birds. Worst part is she really couldn't figure out how it got in it was a pretty tight enclosure with netting above.

https://www.nhregister.com/news/arti...t-11588390.php

Having been a trapper in NH in my younger days I have trapped many Fishers. Every one I skinned had a few Porky quills imbedded under there skin. They are not "killing machines". They do not kill for pleasure. They are a predator that preys on all sorts of critters in order to survive. Do they eat birds, absolutely, but so do raptors, foxes, coyotes, bobcats, wolves and weasels. As with all predators they they play a crucial role in the environment. Your chicken coop story sounds a lot more like the work of a weasel than a Fisher. If the fisher was not caught in the coop I suspect that he/she was not the culprit, but even so, he/she was just trying to eek out a living. I wish folks would stop putting human traits on predators such as labeling them "killing machines". They just want to eat and raise there young. Look, I am no fan of Coyotes but where they occur they have filled a void that was lacking by another predator. As for your video story of a fisher killing a squirrel, of course they do!!! And there ability to chase one down for lunch has me in awe of there hunting skills.

[Dean Romig]

Originally Posted by Stephen Hodges

Having been a trapper in NH in my younger days I have trapped many Fishers. Every one I skinned had a few Porky quills imbedded under there skin. They are not "killing machines". They do not kill for pleasure. They are a predator that preys on all sorts of critters in order to survive. Do they eat birds, absolutely, but so do raptors, foxes, coyotes, bobcats, wolves and weasels. As with all predators they they play a crucial role in the environment. Your chicken coop story sounds a lot more like the work of a weasel than a Fisher. If the fisher was not caught in the coop I suspect that he/she was not the culprit, but even so, he/she was just trying to eek out a living. I wish folks would stop putting human traits on predators such as labeling them "killing machines". They just want to eat and raise there young. Look, I am no fan of Coyotes but where they occur they have filled a void that was lacking by another predator. As for your video story of a fisher killing a squirrel, of course they do!!! And there ability to chase one down for lunch has me in awe of there hunting skills.

Steve, you and I, and a lot of others in the PGCA, have a mutual friend who raised chickens as a food source for he and his wife, along with rabbits for the same purpose. He had built and extremely strong and secure weasel-proof chicken house within the confines of the fenced in (against weasels and such) chicken yard. Something got into the chicken house at night and dragged every one of their chickens out and killed them all, stopping to eat just the more select parts of just a few of them. Somehow the marauder got in through the screened 3" opening under the sides of the vent cap some 5 feet above the floor of the house - an incredibly strong and determined animal and by all counts a "killing machine." Judging by the carcass, it was determined that our mutual friend's wife had Parkerized a large fisher in the act. There's no weasel that strong - but being of the same genus, is more than a little bit likely to simply enjoy killing.





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[Harry Gietler]

Last Hunting Season, I was walking back to my cabin (in the dark) when a Fisher started screaming at Me! It stopped Me in my Tracks. Hell ,I DID NOT have any thing to be scared of, I HAD A 300 H&H MAG. in my Hands! I finely figured out what was making that racket and I stopped shaking in My Boots. The same thing
happened the next night. The next morning I saw the Fisher, a small female!
AS far as Coyotes go, filling the Void to a Coyote means KILLING every thing they can and Eating it. I Believe the only GOOD COYOTE is a DEAD COYOTE!

Harry