DNR officials confirm trail camera image of rare fisher sighting in Allamakee County ...

A northern Allamakee County landowner recently reviewed trail camera footage from last fall and made a surprising discovery. An animal known as a fisher (pictured in lower half of photo at right) was discovered in a trail camera photo and confirmed by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR), a notable sighting since fishers have not been known to be in Iowa since the 1800s. This relative of the weasel is more common in the woodlands of Minnesota, but Furbearer Biologist Vince Evelsizer with the Iowa DNR out of Clear Lake has indicated that a southward trend has been recorded over the last five years for fishers in Minnesota, with a noticeable increase in numbers of the mammal in southeast Minnesota. Evelsizer believes the uneven terrain of northeast Iowa and southeast Minnesota, known as the Driftless Area, lends itself as an ideal habitat for fishers.

Evelsizer indicates that, "Hunters and hikers don't need to be afraid of fishers. They're usually secretive and prey on squirrels, rabbits and small rodents. In the northwoods, there have been a few cases where fishers have killed farm cats and small dogs." Evelsizer also noted that fishers will not seek out people, but the occasional game-bird may be part of their diet. Evelsizer does not anticipate much of an impact from the small number of fishers that have entered Iowa, explaining, "The fisher population in Minnesota's northwoods or lake country, northern Wisconsin and Canada has been relatively stable over the past 100 years. From field reports and trail cam photos, fishers are believed to be expanding, not migrating in a southward direction. This usually means movement of fishers into new areas of their state. They then reproduce and more fishers expand from there, creating a leap-frog expansion effect that takes time. I believe the reason for this is just natural range expansion, which happens when a particular species is doing well, numbers-wise. Time will tell if fishers become established or not in northeast Iowa, meaning a self-sustaining breeding population. In general, we hope they do; however, we have no plans to move any in or stock them." Submitted photo.