Fishers Mounted by Reimond Grignon.
Look how life like they appear!
The fisher is a large, muscular member of the weasel family. Never abundant, very few people have ever seen one of these animals in the wild. Fishers like to frequent areas of big timber, higher wooded swamps, lakes, streams and rivers. They are active both day an night but prefer being nocturnal in populated areas.
The male fisher sometimes gets to be quite large. I caught one once that measured 51 inches long from nose to end of tail. I took it to a fur buyer who had handled thousands of fishers pelts and he told me it was the largest fisher he had ever seen. Below are some pictures of male fishers mounts that I have done. Notice the large blocky head male fishers have.
Fishers roam the woods looking for prey that they can catch and
will
feed on just about anything that happens to get in their way.
Fishers eat hares, rabbits, birds and other small game. Though their name is fisher, they usually do not make it a habit to try to catch fish. They have a home territory of ten to fifteen square miles and wander this area relentlessly in search of food. Fishers are a woods animal and are not usually found in other areas such as fields. They like the deep forests of the north with its abundance of spruce and fir and cedar trees. Which also just happen to be the homes of many hares, rabbits, squirrels and other small game.
Now tell me. Don't those eyes look alive. Some have not believed the pictures above were mounts, but said this is a real live animal picture shot at a zoo somewhere. So I have gone back and inserted the picture below to prove these are mounts that I have done. There are NO zoo pictures on this web site. Each picture is of mounts done by me.
Fishers
are one of the most beautiful animals. Their fur is about two inches long,
silky, with a dense under fur The coloration is a beautiful shade of dark
brown. The coat of hair is quite dense. The tanned hides are wonderful
and and very durable. These pelts were used a lot on fur coats for the
areas around the neck because the fishers tanned pelt and fur can stand
up to a lot of abuse.
The fur coat of fishers are a wonderful shade of brown and the coats can vary in coloration somewhat. Some animals are darker than others for example. This variation is not extreme and most animals look much alike.
The fisher pictures ABOVE are of MALE fishers. Below are pictures of FEMALE fishers. You can see the difference in the anatomy of the two. Female fishers are quite a bit smaller and have other differences. The heads are not blocky like the male fishers are.
Colors of the fishers fur changes with the season of the year. As the fall approaches the fur gets darker and more dense.
Because of the density of the female fishers fur, the female although smaller, is worth a lot more than the male fisher. Usually about three times more. The female fisher is usually lots smaller than the male. Sometimes by a large extent. Most females will average around the same size.
The pelts of the fisher are quite valuable. Fishers are difficult to trap, not because they are trap shy, but because their home area is so big. It takes an experienced trapper to know where to set the traps. Even then there is a lot of luck involved in catching one.
Fishers are one of the fastest animals both on land and in trees. A fisher can easily catch a squirrel or pine martin. There are not many smaller animals that a fisher cannot catch. They excel in catching the rabbits and other small animals.
When turkeys roost in trees at night, the turkeys are easy prey for the fisher. A member of the weasel family, the fisher is most adapt at surviving! It may seem like there wouldn't be anything left with fishers around, but that is not the case because fishers never seem to be that plentiful.
They really don't do that much damage to the game population. For example, turkeys roost in a different area every night, usually in places that fisher don't frequent. It is just a matter of luck that a fisher finds them and catches one. God gives every creature the ability to survive!
Fisher are also one of the few animals which can kill the porcupine which it attacks by driving it up a tree, then swinging underneath to attack the porcupines stomach.
Fishers also have another ability that God has given them that other animals don't seem to have. That is, when they do get porcupine quills driven into their bodies, some how the fishers body seems to digest them and these quills don't seem to bother the fisher.
The fishers shown on this page were mounted for customers and museums. You can see the beautiful detail that I put into the mounts by studying the photo here. I strive to put great detail into each mounted animal so that it looks completely alive. Fisher mounts are wonderful! I just love them!
Fisher trapping is a wonderful sport. It gets you out into the woods and gives you a lot of exercise. There aren't lots of fishers around.
The fishers territory that he covers in search of food is measured in miles. You see a fisher in one spot on day and he may be miles away tomorrow and not be any where back in your area again for several weeks. Trapping fisher takes a lot of dedication and luck and lots of knowledge in knowing where the fisher may be. Lots of trappers never catch one..... You may never catch a fisher, but think of all the wonderful time you get outdoors seeing and studying wildlife! I used to love fisher trapping. Some of the fishers you see on this page were caught by me.
Maine has a really good population of fishers at the present time.
