I have had a few questions passed my way regarding a sighting or a trail cam photo of an animal that many had not seen before.

First, the name fisher might imply that they are an aquatic mammal feeding on fish or other aquatic animals. That is not correct.

Its cousin, the river otter, now not common, but widespread throughout Pennsylvania, is an aquatic mammal. Their sighting was most likely a fisher.

Fishers, belong to family Mustelidae, which includes the river otter, mink, ermine (short-tailed weasel) and long-tailed weasel. All of these can be found here in the Times News coverage area. In my many years of hunting, bird watching, stump sitting, etc. I have seen all of these here.

The fisher, like the elk and mountain lion, were extirpated from Pennsylvania by the mid- to late 19th century.

Elk, after a reintroduction or two, have now been firmly established and the population continues to grow.

But in 1994 and in a few succeeding years, fishers were live-trapped and relocated here from states to our north and released in Clinton County, and later some other optimal habitats. The introductions worked.

I almost discounted my first encounter with a fisher. Early on a December morning, while sitting against a tree in Franklin Township in 2001, I observed a gray squirrel running for its life. It “dove” unto a nearby red oak and hustled to near the top. Chasing it, I thought, was a mink.

The predator climbed almost as deftly as the squirrel and they circled the trunk a few times until the “gray” dove onto a nearby tree and then the next, etc. leaving the (what I now realize was a fisher) watching its exit.

That evening, I read more info on the fisher’s stocking and I realized I may have been one of the first to see one in Carbon County.

My next sighting occurred five years ago at the same location. It was again antlered deer season, early December, when the forest about 200 yards from me erupted with a mob of angry crows.

I had begun writing this column, so my hunting time was more photography time now. The ruckus got closer and closer so I sat camera ready, waiting for the great horned owl and the crow mob to get within photo range. To my surprise, hopping and loping quickly over logs and forest debris was a fisher, followed close behind by at least two dozen crows.

Had the fisher paused for a second, I would have been able to grab a quick photo. But the crows had him on the move.

The crows, though, did notice this blaze orange blob sitting next to my favorite white pine and scattered. I tried! Two years later, from the same spot, I watched a fisher feeding just after dawn about 100 yards from me, but too far and dark to photograph.

Male fishers weigh about 15 pounds (females are a little more than half that size) and would be about the same weight as a well-fed house cat. From nose to tail, a male could be about 45 inches or so.

They are excellent climbers (which I observed) and will den in a large hollow or snapped off tree trunk. They are very efficient predators and feed on chipmunks, shrews, squirrels, birds and porcupines.

Some states have reintroduced them to help control porcupine populations. I have not found any references that the Pennsylvania Game Commission released them here for that purpose.

Turkey hunters and deer hunters suspect that our local declining turkey population may be directly linked to the increase of fishers.

I’m sure future studies will prove or disprove this. Fawns can be in their diet as well, but I believe coyotes and bears have more effects on them.

I have included a poor-quality trail cam picture of one taken about three years ago. My apologies on its quality, but it can give you a good idea of the shape and size of fishers.

They are now being seen in some residential communities that have expanded into forested areas locally. Keep those eyes open as you venture out there to glimpse another one of our area’s wide varieties of wildlife.

Test Your Outdoor Knowledge: That group of crows I observed with the fisher is correctly called: A. mob; B. murder; C. pod; D. pack; E. swarm

Last Week’s Trivia Answer: Song and chipping sparrow nests are commonly parasitized by the cowbird laying her single egg in their nests, almost dooming their original offspring to fail.

Email Barry Reed at breed71@gmail.com.