A neighbour – Venton Beatty – from north and east of Erickson, Manitoba recently sent me some photos of a fisher (a member of the weasel family) investigating his bird feeder early this spring.
Fisher climbs poplar to get seed from feeder
Fishers are increasingly common in the Riding Mountain National Park area. We have heard about several recent observations including a fisher that boldly came out of the aspen forests and snatched a sleeping elderly cat from its perch on the house deck. Neither the cat nor the fisher live to tell the tale..now, that’s another story!
In communication with Venton, he said ” we noticed it around noon on Friday, March 26 – it seemed to be mainly relaxing and looking around. And spent some time eating sunflower seeds. It stayed for about 20 – 30 minutes…”
As you can tell, it is a tree climber, and is a large cousin to the pine marten. Males are 90 – 120 cm in length (35 – 47 inches). A large, small mammal. They are omnivores and generalists, as this Fisher Wikipedia post will detail.
Thanks Venton, for passing on these images.
Fisher on top of winter bird feeder
Riding Mountain Photo Safaris: During all seasons of the year, our Earth Rhythms guides will take you out into Riding Mountain National Park for short driving and walking photo safaris, gentle bike photo safaris, and snowshoeing to look for Riding Mountain’s birds, mammals, and evidence of their activities. Do join us!
