Fisher Cats in Oklahoma?

[calliemoonbeam]

I was coming home tonight and saw what I thought at first was a black cat running along the side of the road, but it was too long and the face didn't look right. It was really dark so I just got a glimpse in the headlights. Earlier today I had found some tracks I didn't recognize either just behind the house. I started researching, and I'm pretty sure it was a fisher cat. I'd never even heard of them until Wind in her Hair was talking about them, but I didn't think they were around here.

Then I found a website with a recording of their call, and it sounds just like the noise I've been hearing off and on for the past two years since I moved here! It's always up in a tree, and I thought it must be some weird sort of bird, lol. It's really loud and really freaky sounding! Anyway, there was a post on there from a guy who lives about 15 miles from me, and he said he's seen one on his property. He lives in the woods and has persimmon trees, and he's seen it in those and hears it too, and that sounds exactly like my place! There's a creek nearby and numerous ponds and a lake a few miles away. The website said they're usually near water.

So do you think there ARE fishers in Oklahoma? Do I need to be worried? Do I need to do, and is there anything I can do, to get rid of it?

On a possibly unrelated note, lately I've been hearing something off and on up in my walls and on the roof, and it sounds like it's tearing pieces off the roof!!! A fisher is too big for this right? I put out rat bait bars earlier, but not sure what else to do. I have caught mice in the house, but this sounds WAY too big to be mice! I can't get to the roof to check for damage, going to have to hire someone to come do that. Any suggestions on what it might be or how to get rid of it?? Thanks!

[Bearfootfarm]

Fishers shouldnt be that far South.
It must be another type of weasel
http://www.extension.org/pages/Weasels#Range

[TedH71]

Could be possible. Animals are expanding into areas where they didn't use to be or DID but were driven out in the past by settlers.

[Ed Norman]

Usually, if you aren't sure what kind of animal you saw is, it was a chupacabra.

[calliemoonbeam]

lol Ed! I'll keep that in mind.

That's what I thought Bearfoot, but it definitely didn't look like any of the weasel pictures I looked at. I posted on that other site, hoping the guy who lives not far from me will respond, but nothing so far.

I didn't think we had bears around here either, but had a couple of instances where I could have sworn I heard one trying to get in my back door and found tracks that matched. When I posted about that on here, people assured me there were bears in the area, that they'd probably migrated from the mountains in Arkansas or Missouri, so who knows!

[braggscowboy]

Not sure what a Fisher is, but I live in NE Oklahoma and I hear some strange sound at night in the summer time and I always gave credit to some kind of fowl that I never see or hear at day time. I have always lived in NE Ok and have never heard this until the last couple of years. Where did you find this site that has a recording of sound, if I might ask? Thanks!

[calliemoonbeam]

The one that says "weird noise behind my house" sounds like what I hear. I saved this link because I posted there and hope someone will respond. I found several other links that sounded the same, but didn't save them, sorry.

http://fishercatscreech.com/fisher-cat-sound-and-audio/

Like I said, I'd never heard of "fishers" either, but Wind in her Hair (who lives in Wisconsin or Minnesota, I forget) was talking about them on here one time. I just started looking for "extra long black cats with bushy tails" and came across them. I tried weasels, minks and bobcats and none of the pictures was right, but as soon as I saw the pictures and paw print patterns of the fishers they matched perfectly! Like you said, I have only heard the calling in the spring and summer, but then the saw this one by the road the other night. Let me know if you think that's what you have please?

[tinknal]

Originally Posted by TedH71

Could be possible. Animals are expanding into areas where they didn't use to be or DID but were driven out in the past by settlers.

Well, I just live about a hundred miles south of WIHH and I've never even seen one. In this neck of the woods migration is moving northwards. We now have possum (filthy vermin). Before 10 years ago they didn't exist here.

[tab]

I live in NNY and we have fisher. Heard over and over they weren't in the area but then my brother trapped several right out back of us and had one mounted. Looks a lot like the otter he has mounted. I saw one the other day just down the road scurrying into the woods. They really aren't a cat and have been known to eat little pets, kind of like the coyotes. I keep all of my critters in at night if I possibly can. There also aren't supposed to be black bears in the immediate area but several of us SAW one a few years ago. Got a call from a really excited neighbor and went and looked, yup black bear. There also aren't supposed to be wolves around either but there are some who swear they have seen some. It is plausible they came across from Canada when the river was frozen or up from the Catskill or Adironadacks, same goes for cougar.

So, this long winded post is basically saying animals sometimes are where experts say they aren't. Fisher are kind of neat critters as they (if my memory is working correctly) are they only predator of porcupines. Sometimes they win and sometimes they don't.

[plowjockey]

One of my favorite books, is my 1960 copy of National Geographics "Wild Animals of North America. (BTW, some of the most beautiful animal illustrations and photographs of wild animals, IMO)

It stated that the Fisher ranges in New England, Adirondacks and the Alaska panhandle to Yosemite for Canada. The fisher was "reintroduced" in WI in 1957, to re-establish and control porcupines.

The 1918 edition of the book show a much larger range, even extending into as far south as Tennessee. Look on page 444.

Great to see them make a comeback.

http://books.google.com/books?id=HcQ...age&q=&f=false

Here is a better copy

http://www.archive.org/stream/wildan...e/446/mode/2up

[Homesteadwi5]

Fishers are usually only found in large chunks of forest they like cedar swamps and popple slashes around here.Their range is fairly small and they really arent prolific breeders,i seriously doubt you would have them there.

[braggscowboy]

Callie, I did find the sounds on you tube and there were two different ones that sound just like the noise that I hear at night in the spring and summer. Have windows closed in winter and don't hear it (or what ever I hear). Ugly little dickens!).

[Oldcountryboy]

Highly unlikely the Fisher Cat would be migrating south, especially since our winters arent very harsh anymore. What you might have seen was either a black mink/weasal or a all black skunk with no stripes which is quite common in Oklahoma.

[calliemoonbeam]

Well, I don't know what it is, but like I said, I've had something climbing up on my roof and maybe tearing on it and getting into the walls, and I saw the tracks right next to my house, so I still have that problem. The tracks don't look like anything else recognizable yet. I've had what I thought were raccoon prints out here before, and I do have coyotes a lot, but these are very different. Guess I'm going to have to hire a professional exterminator to get out here and figure it out and then get someone to fix the roof if there really is damage. :sigh: Will start calling around tomorrow.

It would also be nice if that horrible screeching out behind my house that goes on all night long in the spring and summer could be brought to an end, lol. It's a horrible sound! It keeps me awake, even with all the doors and windows closed and a fan on.

Thanks everyone!

[plowjockey]

Originally Posted by calliemoonbeam

Well, I don't know what it is, but like I said, I've had something climbing up on my roof and maybe tearing on it and getting into the walls, and I saw the tracks right next to my house, so I still have that problem. The tracks don't look like anything else recognizable yet. I've had what I thought were raccoon prints out here before, and I do have coyotes a lot, but these are very different. Guess I'm going to have to hire a professional exterminator to get out here and figure it out and then get someone to fix the roof if there really is damage. :sigh: Will start calling around tomorrow.

It would also be nice if that horrible screeching out behind my house that goes on all night long in the spring and summer could be brought to an end, lol. It's a horrible sound! It keeps me awake, even with all the doors and windows closed and a fan on.

Thanks everyone!

Can you set up a game camera? Sporting goods stores have them marked down now.

IMO, many animals have the ability to adapt to different climates and ranges.

[JasoninMN]

I highly doubt you have fisher but I guess anything could be possible. Do you have any outside cats? Fisher love to eat them and you wouldn't have any left if that is what was around.

Some other predator killed the ducklings but i put them out in the woods and the fisher found them first.



Tuna on a log works well for them too.

[indianheadranch]

My guess is a young horned owl, they make a heck of a screech to, usually spring and fall, look around in the spring and you might see them walking along the ground looking for grubs and worms, every 15 to 20 minutes they make a heck of a screech. fisher maybe but doubtful, could be a fox also.Good Luck on what you find it is.

[tinknal]

Screeching could be rabbits. They scream when they get attacked by a predator.

[calliemoonbeam]

Nope, no cats or any other critters yet. I plan to get chickens and rabbits and maybe goats eventually, but have been having too many health problems so far. But that's another reason I'd like to figure out what this thing is.

As for the screech, the first thing I thought of were owls, but never found one that sounded right, and someone else mentioned mocking birds, but that wasn't right either. The screeching is always in the trees, that's why I thought a bird, so definitely not a rabbit. I've listened to lots of fox calls too, and they aren't even close. Then when I was reading about the fishers it said they usually call from up in a tree when they're mating or getting ready to attack so it seemed to fit. On another note, the first time I heard a peacock calling, I could have sworn it was a woman yelling "Help me! Help me!" I thought someone was getting mugged or raped or something, lol.

Jason, that cat is a little bigger than the one I saw, but otherwise pretty darn close! I didn't get a full-on look at it's face, but the body shape and tail look right, though I think maybe mine was a little darker black. Like I said, I searched pictures online for a couple of hours and never could find anything else even close.

I've been thinking about a couple of game cameras. I just moved to the country two years ago, and I've been trying to educate myself, but I've had a lot of critters out here that I've been unable to identify, lol.

Oh well, thanks anyway everyone. I talked to an exterminator, and he's going to be out on Friday, hopefully he can figure out what's causing the roof and wall problems and get it taken care of. The other stuff I won't worry about it unless they threaten me or my animals when I get them.

[tinknal]

Callie, are you saying that the call is not from a rabbit because the call is different, or because it is coming from the trees? Owls carry their prey into a tree, often still alive.