Outdoor Ontario

Wildlife Reports => Toronto Wildlife => Topic started by: JW Mills on March 28, 2010, 12:43:23 AM

Title: RFI - Fisher?
Post by: JW Mills on March 28, 2010, 12:43:23 AM

I consulted the online mammal guide at eNature and my best guess is that this is a Fisher.
I first spotted it curled up about 30 - 35 ft up in this tree. It came down head first and entered its burrow at the base of the tree.
Lambton Woods, March 26
 
***Correction - it's a Mink.
 
(http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u225/zed37/Mammals%20-%20medium/Fisher01.jpg) (http://s169.photobucket.com/user/zed37/media/Mammals%20-%20medium/Fisher01.jpg.html)

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Post by: Photoman on March 28, 2010, 01:17:09 AM

Very cool photo John, it has the likings of a minx, do we have fishers this far south?

Clemens 8)

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Post by: denis on March 28, 2010, 08:20:29 AM

sure looks like a mink,although,i,ve never seen one up in a tree.fisher,s are much larger,and pretty rare,even up in timmins,where i,m from.

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Post by: Bird Brain on March 28, 2010, 09:50:21 AM

Wow, what a photo!

Looked up the following on Google ...
Mink are skillful swimmers and divers, "and can climb trees".

First time I've ever seen one climbing down a tree!  8)
 
Jo-Anne  :D

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Post by: DarylG on March 28, 2010, 10:06:27 AM

It could be a fisher.  They have been expanding their range.  Typically fishers are much darker looking almost black or chocolate brown in the winter.  The coat may lighten in the summer.  I have seen fishers twice in Algonquin and they are a large animal compared to most other weasels.  They are bigger when compared to a mink being between 84 cm - 105 cm (or about 3 to 3.5 feet).  Females are smaller.

Mink are usually very dark furred animals.  Not sure how they are at climbing.  And small weighing about  2 kilos (1 pound) and about  42 - 62 cm in length (16" - 24").

The other possibility is a pine marten.  They also have been expanding their range and moving into populated areas.  I have seen pine martens in the last few years in Caledon, so it is not hard to see them following the Humber down into Toronto.  The ears just look a little small for a marten.  And typically martens that I have seen are a reddish or lighter brown.  Pine martens are about the same size as a mink.

DarylG

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Post by: Moira on March 28, 2010, 02:27:38 PM

It's a great picture (whatever it is!)  :)

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Post by: JW Mills on March 28, 2010, 10:14:27 PM

It's a Mink.
 
I saw the critter while walking the Woods with a fellow photog. We both thought that it was too big for a mink. He thought it might be a marten, While martens and mink both climb trees the only references to climbing down head first  I found were attributed to a fisher. This and the animal's perceived larger size led me to believe it might be a fisher.
 
I've been doing more research after reading your posts earlier today and now believe it is a mink. Denis is correct,  fishers are rare, even further north.  
Then after all the time spent on research I received a photo via email this eve from my fellow photog. It was a head shot of the critter peeking out of it's burrow. The presence of a white chin spot seems to confirm it's a mink.
 
Sorry Folks!
I'll have to learn to be a little more circumspect in the future.