If anyone starts giving out awards for confusing names, the first-place prize would go to the fishers.

The name “fishers” is a derivative of the French word “fiche.”

Fiche referred to the European polecat which is a small species of weasel found in Europe. It is possible settlers misidentified the fisher thinking it was the same animal as the polecat.

To add to the confusion, some folks call these animals “fisher cats.” They are not cats, and they rarely if ever prey on fish. So, if “fisher cats” aren’t cats or fishers, what are they? They are medium-sized carnivores, the second-largest member of the weasel family in Pennsylvania. Common names include black cats, fisher cats, tree otters, tree foxes, and fisher weasels. They prey upon reptiles, amphibians, birds and their eggs, small mammals, and even each other. Young fishers do not tolerate their littermates well after 5 months of age and sometimes will attack each other.

Field biologists examined the stomach contents of 91 fishers, whose carcasses they had found in Pennsylvania. From this study 12 fishers had the remains of other fishers in their digestive tracts. Research indicates Pennsylvania’s fisher population has grown so quickly that they are competing with each other for food and can be aggressive toward one another.

Like all weasels, they have long, thin bodies, short ears, and strong legs for climbing and digging. Their chestnut brown fur coats resulted in them being hunted to extinction in some parts of their home ranges. With less emphasis on wearing furs these days and through successful reintroduction efforts, habitat restoration and conservation efforts, fishers are making a comeback in many places.

Fishers are one of the few animals that regularly prey upon porcupines. They run circles around the porcupines in order to exhaust them. Tired and disoriented, this makes the porcupines easy to subdue. Fishers grab the porcupines by their faces or flip them over to expose their underbellies. By using this technique, the chances of being quilled are low. But if they are quilled, they are able to fight off infections from the injuries that would kill other animals. Out of 100 skulls collected by trappers, about one in 10 skulls had quills embedded in them.

Because of their reputations there is the myth that fishers prey upon pets and small children. Their ranges are expanding, people who have never seen the animals before are now seeing them in their yards, causing them to fear for their children and pets. Despite their fierceness there are no recorded cases of fishers attacking humans. Although it is not something pleasant to think about, a fisher would take an outside cat if the opportunity presented itself. Field studies of fisher diets that suggest cats that spend a lot of time outside are probably safe. Unbelievably, coyotes, dogs, owls, and cars are more of a threat to outside cats than fishers.

Quite often people have asked us about the vocalizations of fishers. Sometimes they play recordings of hair-raising screams concerned it’s a fisher. There are many animals that vocalize at night and sometimes we are able to identify what is making those sounds. Red foxes are very vocal while gray foxes and fishers are typically silent in order to hunt efficiently. Fishers do vocalize but the sounds they make are closer to a “nervous chuckle” or the chattering that ferrets make when they play.

The Pennsylvania Game Commission, the Pennsylvania State University and the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources introduced 190 fishers (87 males, 97 females, six of unknown sex) in six sites in northern Pennsylvania. Populations are well-established and increasing throughout southwestern, central, and northern regions of the state.

Males have a home range of about 30 square miles and females have a home range of about 15 square miles.

Fishers have become established even in rural and suburban habitats once thought unsuitable for this adaptive and important species.

I saw a fisher once in my entire life and the only advice for finding these elusive weasels I have is don’t blink. They are quick and blend in with their surroundings with remarkable speed.

Jeannie Carl is a naturalist at the Carbon County Environmental Education Center in Summit Hill. The center rehabilitates injured animals and educates the public on a variety of wildlife found in the area. For information on the Carbon County Environmental Center, visit www.carboneec.org.