For the Trappers - Pic Added

[electric10162]

I've been seeing these guys between my ponds the last two years. I believe they are Fishers. Protected right?

Edited February 24, 2022 by electric10162

[Bucndoe]

Yes they are protected. Their numbers have been exploding. Fish and Game is well aware and has been monitoring. Stokes has a large population and they have been incidentally caught in Passaic County as well

Edited February 18, 2022 by Bucndoe

[rgw]

Yup 

[rgw]

When a season opens how much you want to let me put a trap between those two ponds

[electric10162]

4 minutes ago, Bucndoe said:

Yes. Their numbers have been exploding. Fish and Game is well aware and has been monitoring. Stokes has a large population and they have been incidentally caught in Passaic County as well

Are they good to have around the pond?

[Bucndoe]

2 minutes ago, electric10162 said:

Are they good to have around the pond?

They will eat just about anything and are vicious predators. Their preferred food source is porcupine but they also raid turkey nests in the spring. Awesome to see in the woods and they stink real good. I love catching them

[Bucksnbows]

It’s always great to see native species return. I have found tracks twice in NJ, but haven’t seen one yet. But I have seen them in NY and VT.  The mustelid family of weasels have that scent gland that is unmistakable! 

[trapoholic]

Yes, fisher are protected in NJ. But I believe that your pictures may be that of a mink. We go through this every few months. Fisher VS Mink pictures. Mink are very common in NJ. 

I live in the Highland Lakes section of Vernon. Several of the my neighbors tell me that they "Hear" fishers quite frequently at night right here in my neighboorhood. There is a swamp on the side of my house with several game trails running through it. And I have a pair of trail cameras set out there for years now. And I have never, ever, gotten a picture of any of these "Fishers" that have been alleged to be running all over the place at night. I have hundreds and hundreds of pictures of coon, possums, skunks, red fox, squirrels, chipmunks, bears, deer, and turkeys, and even a few coyotes, just to name a few. But never a fisher or even a bobcat. I honestly believe that what my neighbors are hearing is coon. Coon mate in March and are very vocal at that time.

[Bucndoe]

The one up close of the ass end is a mink, I didn’t look at that one at first. The first one looks like a female fisher. Tough to tell without seeing the tail and the trail of tracks looks too big for a mink

Edited February 18, 2022 by Bucndoe

[Bucndoe]

17 minutes ago, trapoholic said:

Yes, fisher are protected in NJ. But I believe that your pictures may be that of a mink. We go through this every few months. Fisher VS Mink pictures. Mink are very common in NJ. 

I live in the Highland Lakes section of Vernon. Several of the my neighbors tell me that they "Hear" fishers quite frequently at night right here in my neighboorhood. There is a swamp on the side of my house with several game trails running through it. And I have a pair of trail cameras set out there for years now. And I have never, ever, gotten a picture of any of these "Fishers" that have been alleged to be running all over the place at night. I have hundreds and hundreds of pictures of coon, possums, skunks, red fox, squirrels, chipmunks, bears, deer, and turkeys, and even a few coyotes, just to name a few. But never a fisher or even a bobcat. I honestly believe that what my neighbors are hearing is coon. Coon mate in March and are very vocal at that time.

Coons breed in January. By March they are looking for a place to nest and have their litter. There may be some late breeding in March but in this part of the country it's January to early February. This poor girl in this picture got torn up breeding and it was caught the first week of February 

Edited February 18, 2022 by Bucndoe

[trapoholic]

47 minutes ago, Bucndoe said:

The one up close of the ass end is a mink, I didn’t look at that one at first. The first one looks like a female fisher. Tough to tell without seeing the tail and the trail of tracks looks too big for a mink

Correct. A fisher has a tapered tail much like an otter. A minks tail is roughly the same diameter throughout. And using your trail cam photos, we can clearly see in the second picture, the fisher with the tapered tail.

[trapoholic]

1 hour ago, Bucndoe said:

They will eat just about anything and are vicious predators. Their preferred food source is porcupine but they also raid turkey nests in the spring. Awesome to see in the woods and they stink real good. I love catching them

The ones that I have skinned stank like a very dirty dog!

[nb6624]

Both pictures are Mink. But what do I know?

[nb6624]

Fisher are much bigger

[Shakyjake]

Size alone made me think they were mink. Either way, fisher aren’t “protected” in NJ. Rather, they are listed as a fur bearer with a closed season.