prints showed up in the light dusting of snow we got overnight. A
raccoon had been prowling along the wetland edge in the early morning
hours, leaving these tracks. There's also been a lot of fisher
activity, retracing the same path and taking advantage of fallen logs to
move about the wetlands.
Earlier this week Dan found a set of bounding bunny tracks along the
side of his house. The racing rabbit cleared 10 feet between bounces.
A Concord resident living near White's Pond reports having seen a fisher family crossing through her yard in the past week. I've inquired about a photo and there may be one. Given their solitary nature, wouldn't a female with kits be the only possibility, and wouldn't early February be unusually early for them to be on the ground foraging together...even with this warm weather?
ReplyDeleteYes, it would be unusually early, even with this warm weather, because the fisher's reproductive cycle is triggered by day length. If there were just 2 animals, it could be a male and female checking each other out. If more than two, I wonder if she saw a family of otters. Would love to see a photo.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Janet. Otters might be possible. I will try to get a photo. Lydia Rogers, one of our Concord trackers, just emailed me that she's caught fisher in pairs several times in the wildlife tunnels in town...likely siblings, she thinks.
ReplyDeleteSibling fishers -- an interesting thought. I remember an outing to Quabbin Reservoir where I thought we had 2 juvenile bobcats traveling together in winter. I haven't seen that for fishers, but why not.
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