The Woods

The male and female fisher have comparable appearances and overall coloration, but the male is much larger, varying from 35 to 47 inches in length and ranging between eight and thirteen pounds. The female is generally between 30 and 37 inches in length and weighs from four to six pounds. Their dense, soft fur make them very popular and profitable targets for trappers. Their coats vary in color from dark chocolate brown to a deep black in winter, lightening considerably in the summer, making winter the prime season for trapping. The thickness of the fur coat also varies with the season, with the winter coat being the densest, and therefore most sought after.

The attractiveness and value of fisher pelts for the fur trade contributed to a decline in the fisher’s range and numbers, which, together with the felling of pine forests for farming and then the subsequent expansion of housing, sped the fisher’s decline. However, thanks to a gradual shift of human populations from rural farmland to cities and suburbs in the late 1800s into the 1900s,second and third growth forests began to fill in once-tilled farmland, maturing over the years. Together with the imposition of carefully monitored trapping seasons and limits, the fisher has now reoccupied its original range and numbers continue to grow.