Fisher Release in Gifford Pinchot near Randle

[JimmieD]

Just thought I'd share the most recent fisher release out in the Randle area at Gifford Pinchot National Forest on November 8, 2019.

The people in attendance for the release were educated on the importance of animal management and the importance of the trappers role in fisher management.  They were informed that trappers in Washington who do inadvertently trap a fisher, change roles from trapper to biologist since the trappers obtain pictures, hair and fecal samples if possible, and record the location of the fisher and provides the information to WDFW. Most noteworthy statement made that surprised many of the "animal conversationalists" there in attendance was, "To once again allow trapping of fisher in Washington will be a very good thing, it will show that the program has worked, and that the fisher population is healthy and large enough to use trapping as yet another method for animal management."

The fishers released this go around were from Alberta Canada and are slightly larger in size compared to the fishers from prior releases that were from BC Canada.  Don't forget, if you see or trap a fisher, see the sticky above on reporting info!

[pianoman9701]

Pretty cool. Voracious predators.  That little girl was standing a little too close to the release of that critter.

[257wbymagkiller]

That’s awesome. Hope to see one out there one day doing its thing. What a great program. I hope it thrives.

[boneaddict]

I think its awesome.  The local rabbit population might be puckering a bit.   I am not a super fan of relocating predators, but I think Fisher have minamal impact as compared to say like a wolf.    Fisher are really cool

[Mtnwalker]

Curious if having a significant Fisher population has any effect on coyote and bobcat numbers?

[boneaddict]

So few of them I doubt it.

[WapitiTalk1]

Sweet, look at em' go!   

[DOUBLELUNG]

Having grown up with an abundant trapped fisher population in northern New England, I'm glad to see them back.  I'd guess mountain beaver and other rodents will make up the bulk of the diet (up to and including porcupines), as well as snowshoe hares and, seasonally, bird eggs and nestlings.  They scavenge big game when available but very rarely take a newborn fawn or lamb.  I don't see much downside.

I'm glad to hear about the positive description of trapping JimmieD.  I used to describe a failure/success metric for wildlife management as:

Extinction
Endangered
Threatened
Rare
Sensitive
Limited Quota
General Season
Unprotected
Bounty

[Humptulips]

I've trapped two, seen two, helped a guy with a trapped one and participated in the release of 7 and after seeing all of them I can say that the fisher in the picture is significantly different colored. The BC fishers seemed to be more brindle colored.
They couldn't get anymore from BC because the area they were getting them from burned.

[one more]

I wonder if they hunt Marten ?  My favorite of the family. 

Diane

[the1rod]

I know nothing about these, sonexcuse my ignorance.  What is the purpose of this,  just to reestablish a native species?  Or is there an economic benefit to them? And FYI I'm not against it,  just curious.

[UrbanTrapper]

I've heard they DO hunt marten.

[Okanagan]

For a number of years we have found their tracks on the Peninsula, where some of the BC fisher were released.  Then by odd chance I met a trapper in B.C who live trapped them for Washington State.  Meeting him kind of completed the circle and it was an enjoyable afternoon with him.

Fisher tracks leave a distinctive pattern when you can see a series of them rather than one print.  Most of the tracks I’ve seen were from the Chilcotin country in B.C. plus one time I found fisher tracks on a logging road in snow above Harrison Lake, not far north of the border near Sumas.

I have seen one for sure and two maybes.  The positive was in snow along the Thompson River near Kamloops, spotted as I drove along the Trans Canada highway.

It is great to have them wild in WA in growing numbers.

[JakeLand]

I’m not that sure about releasing Fischer ! There’s a trend to everything that’s reintroduced into this state comes back and bites us in the behind . As a trapper in a area where they’re I wouldn’t be surprised at some point if they would protect those areas

[Humptulips]

It is only to reintroduce a native species. I cannot see any economic benefit.
I have also heard they will predate on marten but they do coexist so I don't look for them to wipe out the marten.
I do think the OP was a poor place to start with them as the marten are on the edge there but there is a lot of habitat unoccupied by marten that the fishers are getting into so we shall see how it all works out.
I'm not too worried about closing areas for their protection.
The way they travel they would have to close half the State and WDFW has been pretty good with working with trappers so far.









It is only to

[JakeLand]

I see . But they reintroduced wolves of a different strain ( Canadian) and they act completely different then the wolves that were native ( from what I read and understand) and they have done absolutely no good to any of our native species!would these Fisher be the same way especially since 2 different genetic gene pool have been introduced? I guess time will tell

[Gobble Doc]

I don’t see the appeal of releasing them.


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[Bango skank]

I don’t see the appeal of releasing them.


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They kill porcupines 

[Gobble Doc]

One additional threat is worth focusing on: trapping. It is still legal to trap the Northern Rockies fisher in Montana even though their numbers are declining, and traps end up killing a large number of fishers in Idaho where there is no open season on the species. Traps set for other species such as martens and bobcats and, more recently, wolves, end up killing the rare fisher.  In Idaho a total of 22 fishers were captured and 15 died in traps set for wolves during 2011/2012 trapping season. Hence, the hatred for wolves and the unethical delisting of them under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) further imperils the Northern Rockies fisher. It’s a trickle down effect of the widespread intolerance for predators stemming from the sanitized landscape of livestock operations.

https://www.westernwatersheds.org/issues/species/fisher/



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[Humptulips]

The obvious difference between WA and ID, MT is cage traps.  The chances of killing fisher in WA, worst case scenario, is still minimal.
Lynx lawsuits to stop trapping abound in other States but not in WA. We may hate the cages but it does give us a bit of immunity from ESA based lawsuits.
Also the lead person on fisher recovery has said publicly the ultimate goal is a trapping season for them because that will only come when they are fully recovered.

My position on it has always been, it is happening and we may as well embrace it. Better to be at the table then outside looking in.