DAYTON, OHIO (WDTN) – For the first time since the 1800s, Cuyahoga County has had its first confirmed sighting of a fisher, a member of the weasel family.
A fisher can weigh up to 15 pounds and are an elusive, shy creature living in forests. In the 1800s there was a mass deforestation in the state, leaving only 10% of the state covered by forest, compared to the 30% today. This led to not only the Fisher population loss, but also other animals that are abundant today like the white tailed deer.Dr. Don Cipollini, Biology professor at Wright State University, said, “This is a real sign of our environmental health and its improvement. And we’ve seen this now with a number of animals in this state, including black bears, coyotes, fishers now, but also their relatives. Things like minks and otters and beavers have all increased in their, you know, population over the last 20 to 30 years.”Fishers are carnivores, currently found in Northeast Ohio. They avoid interactions with humans if possible, and rarely view pets as prey.Jon Cepek, Wildlife Ecologist for Cleveland Metroparks, said, “They’re carnivores, so, you know, chipmunks, squirrels, rabbits, those would be items in their kind of their prey range. But, you know, that’s a great thing in urban areas where sometimes I have people complain about the number of squirrels or rabbits or, you know, woodchucks or something that might cause damage to their gardens or their agriculture. You know, they play a role as a predator of those.”Fishers are native to Dayton before their populations suffered, and could make a return to the Miami Valley, but it will take many years.Dr. Cipollini said, “If there’s enough forested land to connect them to where they’re found now to the Dayton area. And so they could creep their way. It might take longer than ten years, but really, it’s the connectedness of habitats that would be required to get them here from where they currently are.”It is theorized that Fishers are moving in from Pennsylvania and West Virginia, who have reintroduced fishers since the 1990s…