Rare fisher captured by trail camera in Westmoreland County

MURRYSVILLE, Pa. (KDKA) — A trail camera in Murrysville picked up a rare sight in Westmoreland County. 

PixCams said one of their trail cameras captured photos of a fisher, a weasel-like animal that was once extirpated in Pennsylvania, meaning the species went extinct in the state. 

PixCams shared photos on Facebook showing the fisher scrambling over a log and poking its nose up against the camera. PixCams, which operates several wildlife livestreams, said checking trail cameras is like Christmas morning, and you never quite know what you're going to get. When looking at one trail camera last week, they realized they had picked up a fisher in July. 

"We like to put trail cams on big fallen logs in the woods in remote areas and leave the cams there for months before picking them up. We have found this to be a highly successful [way] of capturing a variety of wildlife species on camera," the Facebook post read. 

The fisher they photographed is probably around 36 inches long. Males, meanwhile, can grow up to 48 inches long. Fishers are the second largest member of the weasel family in Pennsylvania. PixCams said they're "renowned" for their ability to prey on porcupines. 

The Pennsylvania Game Commission says because fishers are so secretive, it's hard to tell when the species extirpated in Pennsylvania. Historic data suggests they lived throughout most of Pennsylvania before intensive deforestation during the nineteenth century. 

Thanks to natural expansion from neighboring states and reintroduction programs, fishers once again call Pennsylvania home. Between 1994 and 1998, nearly 200 fishers were reintroduced to six sites in northern Pennsylvania. Today, the Game Commission says fisher populations are well established throughout the southwestern, central and northern regions of the state.