[smallaxe]

this morning I heard the cry of some animal that almost sounded like a cross between a bird call and a small child. I would have thought it was some exotic bird, but it seemed to varied and had an almost human like intonation to it. I have heard fisher cats at night before, and this sound was not as violent or disturbing. So i went out into the woods behind the house and caught sight of a dark furred animal running up the bank and thought at first it might be a baby black bear that had misplaced its mother since that would explain the mournful searching cry. But as I continued up the bank I saw coming back down the bank about seventy five yards away a slinking body like a ferret. I'm pretty sure this was a fisher cat, but is there any other more benign form of this species it could have been? I have one cat and two dogs. Not too worried about the dogs, but the cat...

[KoZmiC NinJa]

From a New Hampshire Game site :


"The Fisher Cat, is one of New Hampshire's most elusive animals, and a ferocious predator of small game. They are very fast on their feet and can turn on a dime. Few ever get the chance to see a fisher, mainly because they are nocturnal, but can be heard calling in the woodlands during their mating season. They have a chilling scream very much like that of high pitched child."





YIKES !!!!!

[DareToDream]

smallaxe - We live in NH and our house abuts forested land - when we moved in our neighbors told us that if we heard something that sounded like a baby crying in the woods NOT to go anywhere near it - it was a fisher cat - evidently that's what they sound like....we haven't heard any yet.

KoZmiC NinJa - Man! I sure wouldn't want to meet up with one of those critters!

[arel]

Are fisher cats dangerous to people?

I saw a picture of a wildlife rehabilitor holding a baby fisher cat and I saw Jack Hanna on TV holding an adult one.

I realize they are probably nobody's favorite animal, but, out of curiousity, has anyone had one as a pet? Or even had a friendly relationship with one, like some people make friends with local raccoons and skunks?

Or are they really the mean-spirited, vicious monsters of their reputation?

No. I don't plan to adopt one. I have 5 cats, and I want to keep them.

[Dwatted Wabbit]

^^Surely people have made "pets" of them.
After all, there are imbeciles who adopt alligators, lions, tigers, bobcats, wolves, Komodo dragons, anacondas, etc. and usually abandon or murder them later when, for some odd reason, they get a bit wild.
These fisher cats look like bad news, and apparently they are for the cats and dogs who meet up with them without an owner nearby packing some heat.
To my knowledge I've never been near one, but I'd treat them the same as a mine field or a momma bear with kids=wide berth.

[Jason_Els]

Yeah, that was likely a fischer. We have some in the woods behind the house. They sound really bizarre.

But let me introduce you to another culprit:



Isn't he too cute? Isn't he just too adorable? Sitting on your fingers hooting happily away, who wouldn't just fall in love?

Oh yes. They're cute and you never, ever see them. They're great at camoflage. But in the evening something happens and those cute little chirps turn into a blood-chilling shriek that sounds for all the world like a woman screaming HELP! HELP! at the top of her lungs and it can carry for up to a mile. The transplants call the police every year during mating season, certain that a woman is coming to horrible peril, dragged into the dark woods by some fiend and there molested or murdered. As a kid I used to run into my parents' room even though I knew this enormous sound was coming from this tiny screech owl. If you know the call of the peacock, it's like that only louder, more urgent, and higher pitched.

[flu189]

I'll take these nocturnal "screams" anytime over the nocturnal sounds I recall when I lived in NYC. The NYC night creatures were a much greater threat to health and life than anything that may live in the woods here in VT. On the topic of woods, I watched two moose slowly making their way across my property yesterday morning.

[arel]

I live in NYC now, but I live in southern Brooklyn, which is pretty suburban in parts. I hear birds in the morning, not traffic sounds, as I did when I lived in Manhattan. But I do hear sirens a lot.

In urban areas, we have local wildlife, and an occasional rabies scare. Last week I lost my dial tone because a squirrel chewed through the wire. But mostly we worry about man-made threats.

Someone I know heard gunshots in her Bronx neighborhood one night, and in a flash she sold her house and moved to South Carolina.

I haven't (yet) heard gunshots in my neighborhood, but in November 2006, a deli clerk was gunned down in the deli about 4-5 blocks from my home. A few years ago, someone was murdered in a jewelry store less than a mile away from me. And then there was the small matter of 9/11. I was in the subway, on my way uptown. The conductor said we were not going to stop by the World Trade Center, because of "a smoke condition".

I really need to get the ball rolling and get myself up to Vermont. I've been doing lots of research, but now it is time to start taking the difficult action.

[tkln]

I live in Northeastern Queens in NYC...we have a lot of green space around, which is really nice. Racoons are a sighting almost every day...chipmunks and possums are pretty common, and there are a number of falcons around as well.

To me the coolest thing is the falcons who live in Manhattan and nest on the bridges and tall buildings...if that's not nature adapting, I don't know what is.

[arel]

In my neighborhood, there are lots of squirrels and birds. Sparrows, mourning doves, starlings (non-native species) and crows. There were possums for a few years, but I haven't seen many recently. I have seen only one raccoon on my block, although a neighbor has seen some.

There are several semi-feral cats roaming about. Some neighbors feed them. Of my 5 cats, 4 I rescued from the street, both near my home and near my old job. One was given to me by some children on my block. A man from around the corner, I think, gave the kitten to them. Their mother would let them keep the kitten, but said she would not allow him in the house or take him to the vet (he had bad ringworm). I kept the kitten. And now, 10 years later, that cat is costing me a fortune with his expensive medications and diabetic supplies!

I am afraid of wildlife in Vermont harming my cats. Fisher cats, coyotes and even birds of prey have been known to kill housecats.

I wonder if the sounds of those animals would stress my cats. I wonder if they would recognize them as coming from predators who would want to kill and eat them.

But I'm told that fisher cats are not a problem in town. They are only a problem in the more rural areas. I hope that is the case.