EDITOR’S NOTE: This story was originally published by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.
COLUMBUS – The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Wildlife confirmed that a female fisher, a mammal that was collected as roadkill in Ashtabula County in February 2023, was pregnant.
Although that fisher did not successfully give birth, the results are a sign that fishers are colonizing Ohio.
A fisher is an 8- to 10-pound forest-dwelling carnivorous mammal in the weasel family. Fishers were extirpated from Ohio in the mid-1800s.
In 2013, Ohio’s first modern-day fisher sighting was confirmed. Since then, there have been 40 confirmed fisher observations across nine northeast Ohio counties (Ashtabula, Columbiana, Geauga, Trumbull, Mahoning, Lake, Jefferson, Harrison, and Tuscarawas). Two-thirds of those sightings occurred in the last three years.
Fishers are moving westward from established populations in Pennsylvania and naturally colonizing Ohio.
The ODNR Division of Wildlife collects roadkill fishers found in Ohio, when possible, to determine age and test genetics.
In February 2023, biologists collected two roadkill fisher carcasses from northeast Ohio.
Recently received laboratory results showed that one of those individuals was pregnant.
The Division of Wildlife anticipates natural reproduction in fishers will be confirmed in the coming years or may already be occurring.
The Division of Wildlife relies in part on public reports to monitor Ohio’s growing fisher population, as well as black bears, badgers, weasels, and bobcats.
Report observations of these species, including photos or videos, to the Division of Wildlife via the HuntFish OH mobile app or at wildohio.gov.
Please contact your county wildlife officer to report roadkill fishers. It is not permitted to collect roadkill carcasses.