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A mysterious long-haired critter that’s been sighted on the streets of a Bronx neighborhood for several months has a name.
It’s a member of the weasel family called a fisher or fisher cat.
Bronx residents should not feel guilty about not recognizing this critter. Over-trapping centuries ago, confined the fisher to a tiny region in the Adirondacks.
But in the last eighty years, this fifteen-ish-pound meat-eating weasel crept back toward civilization.
Unlike a rat, a fisher doesn’t scavenge for its next meal. It kills it. And if a population of these small-mammal-slaying nocturnal and tunnel-loving beasts makes its home here in New York City, it could target rats for food, Mammalogist Roland Kays says.
But we’d also prefer our pets remain at the top of the food chain. Kays says Chihuahuas are so small and ratty they could be on the fisher’s menu. He adds that we don’t yet know if fishers eat house cats. Not terribly comforting, but humans — children included — should remain safe from any weasel attacks.
Agencies/Canadajournal
