The fisher may be elusive, but plenty of people have trail cam photos of them

By John Holyoke, Bangor Daily News Staff

We’ll wrap up our unofficial “fisher week” of trail cam photos with one from Jeff Fayle of Medway. Fayle said he pulled the photo from a trail cam up near Chesuncook Lake.

Not overly familiar with the fisher? Well, according to the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, the critter doesn’t really eat fish, so if you’re looking for one near a stream or lake, you may not find it.

And while this photo shows a fisher in the snow, they’re not so crazy about cold weather, either.

“Fisher are active year-round but remain in their dens during severe winter weather,” the DIF&W fact sheet on fisher says.

More useful info from the DIF&W: “Fisher habitat use is governed by the availability of food, topography, cover, den locations, and weather. Fisher use a wide variety of forest habitats. They avoid open areas (roads, fields, open bogs, and large clear-cuts) with no overhead cover, however edges surrounding these areas are extensively used. Logs, brush piles, trees, and ground burrows are utilized for cover and protection while resting.”

FYI: The DIF&W has fact sheets for a variety of the animals you’ll find in Maine, including otters, raccoons, snowshoe hare and mink. Check the right margin of this page to find links to nearly 30 species-specific pages. Does your child love animals? Here’s your chance to sound like an absolute genius, and teach them about the animals that live nearby.

So, what’s next in our trail cam series? Well, we’re still looking for some cool photos of a pine marten. A video would be even better. Can anyone help us out?

Do you have a trail camera photo or video to share? Send it to jholyoke@bangordailynews.com and tell us “I consent to the BDN using my photo.” In order to prevent neighbors from stopping by to try to tag particularly large bucks, moose or bears, some identities and towns of origin may be omitted.