Terrifying carnivores in the American suburbs

Last summer, Kerry Beaudry heard the yelp of the German-born Holly shepherd going out to look at the situation. What she saw at the time still made her feel naughty. A small, dirty animal clung to Holly's body, plugging her claws into the nape of the neck and gnawing at the dog's face.

She remembers: 'I have never seen such a scene. I don't know what it is. It looks like a fox but very similar to a mouse. It has fangs and claws. Even though it's not big, it's horrible. '

It was a fisher that resembled a fox living in a deep forest. It was rescued from extinction in the Northeast and central west. It recently migrated to the American suburbs.

This sleek little animal is famous for being a killer for small animals in the house such as cats and chickens, which makes the hostess always irritated. Holly escaped when her husband Beaudry took the broom to scare away the disgusting animal.

The fisher was able to adapt quickly to the new environment, which made the biologists stunned even though it was considered a success of the conservation process. Statistics about them are difficult to do because they are not easy to see while there has never been a large-scale study. Biologists say the number of dead fishers along the way, along with their presence in new lands, clearly shows that the number of fishers is rising.

Gordon Batcheller, a wildlife biologist at the New York State Environmental Protection Agency, said: 'About 10 to 15 years ago, biologists thought that fishers lived only in deep forests, like Adirondacks center. But now we can see them in the growing and suburban areas. '

Healthy with ruffled tails and small but bright round eyes, fishers weigh about 5 to 15 pounds, live on the ground or on trees.They mainly eat meat, especially squirrels, mice, hamsters and other small animals, and their menu includes peanuts and nuts. Fisher is also one of the porcupine's few enemies. They killed the porcupine by attacking the hedgehog's face and flipping it up from behind.

The fisher returned to his shelter at Durham.(Photo: Daniel M. Keefe)

Michelle Johnson, an animal care worker in West Greenwich, said: 'The fisher is quite dangerous'.

Fisher belongs to the mustelid family (weasel family) including weasels, otters and wolverines. It has the aggressive carnivorous nature of a weasel and can climb trees like a mactet. The fisher can kill many animals at once in a small space. It works at night so it's not easy to observe.

Humans are the biggest enemy of fishers. Deforestation is accompanied by hunting for feathers, this animal was pushed to the extinction bank at the beginning of the 20th century.

"The fisher has disappeared for years," said Trina Moruzzi, a wildlife and plant biologist at Massachusetts Fish and Game Department . They no longer appear in Massachusetts. '

Many eastern and central western states began to raise fishers in the last century to limit the amount of porcupines that harm trees. Vermont was the first state to import fishers again, about 125 in the 1950s. 20 years later, they grew rapidly.

What biologists do not know is that fishers not only grow but also migrate to other areas . Vermont's Fisher migrated to southern New Hampshire and central northern Massachusetts where there was dense natural forest and many trees planted when suburbs developed. Recently, fisher was reintroduced into Michigan and Pennsylvania.

According to Dr. Moruzzi, when the number of individuals increases, so does their territory. Male fisher has extremely large territory, it will go to another place if a certain male appears. Children tend to live overlap. Males will enter their territory every spring to mate and settle in their own region for a year.

Dr Moruzzi said: 'Because many areas are inhabited, fisher also appears in many new areas'.

Including Cape Cod, people discovered a fisher this year at Sandwich. Other numbers were discovered in eastern Chatham. Scientists hypothesize that they swam across the Cape Cod canal or run across the bridge. Also fisher is available at Brookline, Massachusetts, just outside Boston.

Vermont state fishers migrated south to Rhode Island, the coastal state of Connecticut, embarrassing local residents because they could not identify the creature that appeared in their backyard. Rhode Island since 1999 began recording the number of dead fishers on the road in the northern region. This year one spotted a child in south Kingston on the coast.

According to Rhori Island's Lori Gibson, a wildlife and plant biologist at Rhode Island Fish and Wildlife Division, 43 people have been complained about the fisher, most of the attacks are caused by It causes.

Wildlife agencies in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York and Rhode Island are working hard to raise awareness for pet owners about fishers and encourage them to raise cats or chickens in safety cages. .

Lorrain Blake owned a farm in Norton, Massachusetts, said a fisher killed three of her five chickens last year. It cut the head of a chicken through the rope in the cage. The next day, he broke into the stable and killed 2 more chickens.

Ms. Blake said: 'I have never been worried about fishers because I have never seen it since that time. It's like a thief, I'll try to catch it. '

In the suburbs of Lexington, Massachusetts, the authorities had to put up banners to encourage people to keep cats and dogs in the house because they found a fisher in the nearby forest. In Northborough, Massachusetts, they post a warning that people should close their trash and limit the use of outside food to animals.

Dr. Gibson said: 'The fishers find our homes very attractive, because we have things they like. This is New England. We have stone walls that attract mice. So also become an attractive environment for fisher. It seems that the thought of chasing them away cannot be realized. '

When fishers appear on the outskirts, biologists must try to convince residents that they rarely attack humans.

Dr Moruzzi said: 'There is a story passed by mothers that fisher is a greedy predator, you should pay attention to the children and keep the children away from the fishers. They are indeed greedy carnivores but only for squirrels or rabbits '.

Animal control workers often say crazy fishers often follow humans.

Louise Scheuerman (Scotia of New York) was cleaning the trash on a February day when the fisher jumped from the trash, followed her to the garage and attacked her feet. Miss Scheuerman beat it with a fire extinguisher, then ran inside and called the police. Police had to track the fisher in the snow. They shot them and found that the animals tested positive for rabies.

Scheuerman said: 'They look at the animal footprint and say' it's a fisher ', I told' what child? ' .

Ms. Scheuerman suffered nerve damage in her feet and had to inject a lot of rabies vaccines over five weeks. She did not leave the house for more than two weeks after being attacked. She added: 'I was trembling for a while. For about 200 years in New York state, I was the second person to be attacked by a rabid fisher. Why can't I win the lottery? Then things will get better. '