Fishers can cause anxiety in upstate New York.<\/p>\n
The elusive, forest-dwelling mammals are often blamed for attacks on dogs and cats. But they rarely come after pets. There are scattered reports<\/a> of fishers attacking\u00a0\u2014 but not killing\u00a0\u2014 smaller canines, while a New Hampshire study that\u00a0examined the contents<\/a> of 1,000 fisher stomachs in 1979 and 1980 found only one contained cat hair, suggesting the fear of fishers coming for your cats is at the very least an exaggeration.<\/p>\n Fishers are members of the mustelid, or weasel, family, along with marten, mink and otter. They have short legs and small ears and are more heavily furred than other weasels. Males weigh up to 15 pounds and are up to 47 inches long, while females weigh up to 7 pounds and are up to 37 inches long, according to the state Department of Environmental Conservation.<\/p>\n Despite their reputation for eating turkey, fishers mostly eat small mammals such as squirrels and voles, followed by fruits, nuts, berries and finally deer, which fishers usually only scavenge. They can descend trees nose-first because they can rotate their back paws 180 degrees, giving them the proper grip for this feat, which aids in their ability to find food.<\/p>\n One thing fishers do not eat is fish. They\u2019re also unrelated to cats, though they are sometimes known as \u201cfisher cats.\u201d\u00a0Their name likely comes from early European settlers, who found they resembled the European polecat, sometimes referred to as the \u201cfichet\u201d or \u201cfitche,\u201d according to<\/a> the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Service.<\/p>\n Fishers reach sexual maturity<\/a> at one year. They breed in March or April, but after about a month of maturation, the egg ceases development for up to 11 months, then resumes in late winter, before females give birth in March or April, usually in a hollowed-out part of a large tree.<\/p>\n