Almost had a close call with a Fisher Cat last week. I’ve only heard about these elusive creatures. They are very aggressive and have the reputation of being able to kill and eating almost anything. They can attack and kill animals twice their size. I had one charge toward me!

There are acres of dense woods behind my place. I burn wood and I was scoping out the fallen trees that came down during the winter and after our recent heavy wind storms. I always find plenty of oak trees there to cut up.

Anyway, I’m checking out this fallen dead tree and all of a sudden I hear a bunch of crows squawking like I never heard. Then I see this good sized animal climb down a tree head first then dive to the ground. It hits the ground running and it’s coming toward me fast. It’s like hopping through a group of knee high laurel bushes. I only get to see a long bushy tail bouncing as it plows through the brush. It was like that scene in one of those Jurassic Park movies when the raptors are going through the tall grass to attacking and eat the guys.
Just as I tear off a branch from the dead tree the animal stops. I sticks it’s head out of the laurel bushes and looks behind itself. Then it turns it’s head back and sees me with large branch in hand.
It starts to like make a growling sound. It’s round ears are back and it’s showing it’s teeth. I’m in a small clearing and this monstrosity is like only 30 feet away from me. I had to think fast. I throw the branch at it and nearly missing it. It gets surprised and bolts in another direction. I instantly tore off another tree branch as I watched it leap back and disappear into the deeper woods.

It was like twice the size of our large male cat loaded with large teeth and claws. Imagine something like 20lb ferret on steriods.

Man, my adrenaline was running!

 

I'd call the local animal control and let them know of your encounter so they can warn others in the area.

 

Ya those things are not fun, I've had one run out in front of me one night about 1/2 mile form the house, weirdest lookin thing you'de ever want to see....

One night I had gotten home from some were late and wanted to check out something that caught my eye in the front yard. i start walking over and all hear is loud howling, i look up to see 2 black shadows start running from about 400 feet up the road, by the time i ran the 50 feet to the garage door, they were jumpin off the small wall into my driveway... never did see em again, they took off down the road before i could i grab a hold of anything..

 

They are pretty nasty little creatures, yes. NA version of the Tasmanian Devil - real one or cartoon, take your pick.

We've got them out in the woods beyond our place and when they wander too close you can hear them at night. We get raccoons fighting out there occasionally, and they make some nasty sounds - but when a fisher is tangling with something it sounds like the devil himself is out there. Pound for pound they've got to be one of the orneriest things around. Luckily, they do tend to avoid humans - that's the first I've heard of them being aggressive towards a human...

 

WTF is a "Fisher cat?" It must be specific to the eastern US. I have never heard the term down here. jd

 

First one I ever saw.

Last week I read up on them some. This is their mating season so they can be more violent than usual as they travel around.

I think I just gave the animal a surprise. It was running scared and then I was standing between freedom and the angry crows behind it.

It was exciting!

They are cool looking animals though. They are little killing machines!

 

They are the second largest in the weasel family behind the wolverine.

Fisher Cat. Fisher Cat Definition, Information on the Fisher Cat , Fisher Cat Pictures.

Yahoo! Image Search Results for fisher cat

 

The term "cat" is a technically a misnomer, but is commonly used...

Fisher (animal) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

They've had instances of housecats being attacked and eaten by fisher cats.....Exaggerated to some extent, but it HAS happened.....They DO avoid humans (could yours have been rabid?).......and dogs too---if a good sized dog get ahold of one, they're (fisher cat) lunchmeat......

Porcupines are (or have been) their preferred food source. The only chance a porky has is if it can hunker down with it's sensitive head and face anchored against a barrier, or at the end of a branch, with the backside towards the fisher cat.......If they can't, they get shredded and flipped and disemboweled......Cats put up a better fight against a fisher cat, but them suckers have claws bigger than a cat, and a better reach.

Had a good article in the Farmers Almanac about a year ago on them suckers.......I don't think they range beyond the West Virginia apps, though......

 

A lot of times they will hunt from the trees. They will climb up for a better view and look around for prey.

They have the ability to run down a tree trunk head first w/o losing traction.

The animal was not happy. It was awakened during daylight. It was/is mating season and I was standing between them and freedom.

It was exciting!

 

We have them out here in the mountains up north, but they are rarely seen.

 

i have encountered them as well bowhunting in NH,MA and CT, yeah there enough to make your hair stand up if one was coming towards you. i remember reading an article over 10 years ago that a golden retriever was killed by one, witnessed by the dogs owners....the dogs face was bitten and all clawed up

nobody likes holding a house cat that doesnt want to be held, an encounter with these guys could get ugly, especially if it had rabies, and just wanted some action from you

"While fishers and mountain lions are the only regular predators of porcupines, the fisher is the only predator to have a specialized killing technique. As observed by Robert G. Snyder in the Adirondack mountains of New York, a fisher first approaches from the direction the porcupine is facing. The porcupine tries to protect itself by turning to present its tail, covered with quills, to the attacker. The fisher then jumps directly over its prey, forcing the porcupine to keep turning to protect its vulnerable head. A dozen or more such maneuvers suffice to exhaust and confuse the porcupine into a stupor in which it can no longer protect itself. Then, by repeatedly biting and scratching at the porcupine's face, the fisher causes it to bleed to death. The fisher eats the porcupine by flipping the dead animal over and starting with its unprotected belly"


how close would you come to a porcupine?