Camera captures "elusive" fisher taking up residence on Westmoreland County property
It seems a fisher, a weasel-like creature that was once extinct in Pennsylvania, has taken up residence on a property in Westmoreland County.
PixCams, an organization that runs wildlife livestreams, recently captured photos of a fisher on its trail cameras in Murrysville. In December, they decided to expand their efforts, setting up cameras on six different downed logs across a 40-acre stretch of property.
After collecting the media cards over the weekend, PixCams says "to our amazement," they captured fisher photos on four out of the six logs. Based on the size, they believe the fisher is a female. The hope is that a male may move into the area and potentially mate with her.
"With this latest set of photos, we can confidently say we have a resident fisher living in our woods!" PixCams wrote on Facebook.
Fishers were once extirpated in Pennsylvania, meaning they were locally extinct.
Bill Powers with PixCams told KDKA-TV in December that the fisher spotted in Murrysville is exciting because it shows the biodiversity of western Pennsylvania. He said fishers are also elusive creatures that will run and hide from humans, so trail cameras give a glimpse at wildlife people otherwise wouldn't see.
Fishers return from extirpation in Pennsylvania
The Pennsylvania Game Commission says fishers disappeared from the state sometime around the nineteenth century, though it's hard to pinpoint exactly when because the creatures are so secretive and records are scarce.
The Game Commission says it's believed fishers were distributed throughout most of the state before intensive deforestation during the nineteenth century. Historical accounts also suggest that populations initially began to decline in southwestern Pennsylvania due to early colonial development.
Pennsylvania's current-day fisher population is the result of natural expansion from neighboring states in the 70s and reintroduction programs in the 90s.
"Today, fisher populations are well established and increasing throughout southwestern, central and northern regions of the state, and fisher have become established even in some rural and suburban habitats once thought unsuitable for this adaptive forest carnivore," the Game Commission says on its website.
Now that the fisher is back, the Game Commission says it has a "scientifically based and highly conservative management plan" to make sure the species is here to stay.
