[vter]

I've never heard of a predator coming into someone's home. You will however possibly have the "problem" that we have - your cat bringing in his catch to show off to you LOL.
My cat is allowed outdoors during the daylight. At night we let him hang out on our screened porch until we go to bed, then its in for the night.

[flu189]

We also had a noisy pack of coyotes hanging around this summer and fall. Unless you are cooking bacon and leave your door wide open and hang suet around windows you don't have to worry about "home invasions". Enough already of this Fisher Cat business. It is not an issue. Black bears would be the only animal that could be a threat mainly due to their strength and agility. I have several times come across them in the woods and everytime they could not get out of the area fast enough when they were aware of my presence. I have noticed some of my neighbors being a bit careless about putting trash out for pickup without secure and covered cannisters and this could lure animals. Myself, I keep the trash secure and bring it myself to the dump. When I lived in Ak we had problem bears due to being trash scavengers. Then of course we had people feeding moose in their yard, very stupid!! Leave the animals alone and they will not be a problem.

[Phish Head]

Copperhead snakes are extremely rare in VT, but then again, so are fisher cats. I don't think the average person will ever encounter either animal. Since we are talking about the possibility of seeing an animal, there have been plenty of sightings of wolves and mountain lions in northern NY, VT, NH and especially Maine. All 4 states still do not officially recognize these animals existing in their respective states.

They captured a bear just a few miles from the Jersey Shore. It apparently wandered down from the mountains unchecked, and they had to shoot it. It think it is entirely within the realm of possibilities for there to be wolves and mountain lions in northern New England and the Adirondacks, that probably wandered in from Canada.

[audreyp]

I live in out in the boonies here in Nova Scotia Canada. There has been ,thanks to this forum I now know, a fisher cat. At first we thought it was some strange breed of bear.
Is Canada a normal habitat of the fisher?
We have a cat that disappeared about a year ago...I am sure I know what has happened to our dear kitty*sigh of sadness*.Is this something that should be reported the Dept land/forest?
We have seen this animal in daylight.Early am.

[KoZmiC NinJa]

We are cat lovers. Our cats never go outside. We collect strays or from a shelter. My last shelter cat, Syd, I had to sign a promisary note saying I would never let him out. What is funny though, is that we have a lot of wildlife getting into our old house. I have become an expert at extracting squirrels, chimpmunks from the attic(peanut butter on celery / have-a-heart trap) and Bats that fly around the living part of our house. The first time a bat gets in it is quite a traumatic experience due to the commotion the little beast can summon up in his laps around the house. I have a tupperware tool for humanely catching them and putting them out. If you look at one in its little vampire puss, it starts hissing at you and showing its fangs...very scary!! Really !! Not for the faint of heart !!

[ab8mi]

Originally Posted by Dwatted Wabbit

Shotgun, .22, .17, or hi powered BB gun. Or crossbow. Tastes like chicken.

Except don't get caught taking an animal with a crossbow!!!

[nhyrnut]

Originally Posted by ab8mi

Except don't get caught taking an animal with a crossbow!!!

Why Not? Felons can have muzzle Loaders. Law abiding citizens can't have cross bows?

[ab8mi]

Originally Posted by nhyrnut

Why Not? Felons can have muzzle Loaders. Law abiding citizens can't have cross bows?

You can possess a crossbow but in most states it is illegal to take game with them, except in special circumstances. Didn't mean to offend.

[nhyrnut]

Originally Posted by ab8mi

You can possess a crossbow but in most states it is illegal to take game with them, except in special circumstances. Didn't mean to offend.

No offense taken. I was just wondering, why not? I didn't realize VT prohibits hunting with them, unless you get special permission. Here in NH we hunt with them during firearm season. They are actually more of a challenge and much more fun. Anyone can take a deer at 150 yards with a scope and a riffle. take one at 70 yards with a cross bow ya thats adrenaline.

[mountainme]

If anyone still wants to know some real information about the fisher...its latin name is martes pennanti, look it up in Wikipedia...it IS a native species to North America and Vermont. I am a wildlife biologist and worked on a fisher project in college. They are a forest carnivore so if there are no trees- no fishers. The main reason fishers are seeming to be more populous in places like Vermont these days ( I grew up in Dorset) is that there are more forests near towns. Used to be more farms/logging way back in the day but there are more trees in VT now than in the early part of 1900's, so because of this fishers, coyotes, bears all NATIVE animals to Vermont are coming back. Same with Moose, they migrated back from Canada/Maine. Interestingly they even migrated back into the Adirondacks (one was found wandering through Troy, NY in the early 90's) where they haven't been for a very long time. So while they may be "pests" they are native and a sign of good land/forest heath.

Back to fishers, they are typically Very shy of people but in the Northeast where they are living near towns they are becoming habituated to people. They typically eat rodents, though when I was live trapping them we used chicken for bait. They would I think be deterred by a dog if you have one in the yard (not an ankle biter) and secure screen windows. They are very clever w/ paws like a raccoon and part of the weasel family, most closely related to wolverines and pine martens. I could go on with my science babble but will spare you all...