Rarely-Seen Fisher Spotted on Trail Camera Again – PetaPixel

A trail camera filmed images of the same elusive “fisher” in Pennsylvania — months after the first sighting of the animal that was believed to be extinct in the state. The photographs of the rarely-seen woodland-dwelling mammal were taken by trail cameras set up by PixCams in the woods in Murrysville in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania last month. PixCams, which runs livestream nature webcams, previously captured the fisher on its trail camera over the summer.PixCams says its trail camera took another 10 photos of the fisher over four different occasions and shared the images on Facebook. The organization says that it proves that the first sighting of the animal “wasn’t a fluke” and the fisher appears to be living not too far from where the recording device was set up. Bill Powers of PixCams says there is no way that the fisher would have been discovered without trail camera technology. “The excitement level is, it’s just rare,” Powers tells CBS News. “People just never see this. And it’s also something that’s just very elusive. “Like if you come out, it will just run out and hide. So, the chance of people seeing this without the technology is just very minimal.” The fisher is most commonly found in Massachusetts, New England, New York, and southern Canada, with few-and-far-between sightings in Pennsylvania.Fishers were completely eliminated from Pennsylvania during unregulated hunting and intense deforestation in the late 1800s. For a long time, the animals were completely extinct in the state. However, in the mid-1990s, nearly 200 fishers were reintroduced to six sites in northern Pennsylvania and the population has been slowly growing. “I think this just shows the biodiversity of western Pennsylvania,” Powers tells CBS News. “It’s fantastic. You know, we’re seeing species we haven’t seen since 10, 20 years ago.”Fishers — which are omnivorous members of the weasel family — are one of the few animals capable of killing and eating porcupines. Fishers rely on their keen sense of smell to track down prey and are especially known for their unique ability to hunt porcupines. Despite the porcupine’s dangerous quills, which make it a challenging target, the stealthy fisher focuses on attacking vulnerable areas like the head and face to successfully take down the rodent.Fishers also hunt rabbits, squirrels, raccoons, mice, reptiles, and occasionally outdoor cats. The fisher that PixCams photographed is probably around 36 inches long. But males can grow up to 48 inches long. Earlier this week, PetaPixel picked some of the best trail camera images of 2024.    Image credits: All photos by Facebook/PixCams.Become a PetaPixel Member and access our content ad-free.© 2025 PetaPixel Inc. All rights reserved.

Source: https://petapixel.com/2025/01/05/rarely-seen-fisher-spotted-on-trail-camera-again/