Do you think it was a Fisher?

[erugs]

I was traveling a back road in Maine on Saturday and saw an animal along the side of the road on a grassy area that confused me. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera handy so can only recall it from memory.

At first I thought it was a fox, probably a gray fox. But it had red in the coloring, too. It was about the right size for an adult fox. The tail was long and very bushy. But the face! It was more rounded than a fox would be. Not at all snouty. I thought bobcat, but of course the tail wasn't right for that animal.

I looked at it briefly with curiousity, it looked at me briefly with a distain that made me shudder, then went off into the woods. What do you guess I saw?

 

[Chip]

I'd guess Pine Marten from your description. Disdain is not normally how their "look" is described, though. Generally Curious or Cute are.

Pine Marten

Fisher Cat

 

[nartreb]

A pine marten would be more likely than a fisher to look reddish, but marten are significantly smaller than foxes. Marten or fisher seem to be the best guesses.

That "look of disdain that made me shudder" had me thinking wolverine for a second, but their tail is not so noticable and they have a definite badgery-skunky gait.

 

[Papa Bear]

Fishers tend to look dark, even black from a distance and are very long looking, sort of the proportions of a gray squirrel (city type) or an otter. Foxes are more like a medium sized dog in proportion.

 

[erugs]

With the suggestions above, I found this picture on eNature.com that resembled what I think the face looked like:

http://enature.com/fieldguides/deta...marten&curGroupID=5&lgfromWhere=&curPageNum=1

except that the face was scarier. I'm willing to say that the size might have been smaller than I remember, but it didn't scamper away as the pine marten and fishers I have seen videos of online. The tails I have seen in pictures online are not nearly as bushy as the one on the creature I saw. The photos I've seen with descriptions all show the animal looking a lot cuter than I remember.

I'd never be much good making an id in a police line-up. I hope I'm never asked.

 

[sardog1]

With the suggestions above, I found this picture on eNature.com that resembled what I think the face looked like:

http://enature.com/fieldguides/deta...marten&curGroupID=5&lgfromWhere=&curPageNum=1

except that the face was scarier. I'm willing to say that the size might have been smaller than I remember, but it didn't scamper away as the pine marten and fishers I have seen videos of online. The tails I have seen in pictures online are not nearly as bushy as the one on the creature I saw. The photos I've seen with descriptions all show the animal looking a lot cuter than I remember.

I'd never be much good making an id in a police line-up. I hope I'm never asked.

I have a hard time imagining anyone reacting to a marten face as scary. Every marten I've encountered wanted immediately to be somewhere else. And your emphasis on the bushiness of the tail discourages thoughts of martens and fishers IMO.

Did you see a cross fox?

 

[erugs]

Oh my gosh. Could it be? Here in New England? That's the closest I've seen in looks to what I remember. I've never heard of them before.

 

[woodsxc]

Oh my gosh. Could it be? Here in New England? That's the closest I've seen in looks to what I remember. I've never heard of them before.

Those foxes have very mottled fur. Was your new friend a solid color?

 

[gaiagirl]

Gray foxes don't look as snouty and have rounder heads. They're a bit smaller than red foxes, but not by too much. And there would be some red and even blackish to the fur color in addition to the primary silveri-sh color. I think you probably did see a gray fox.

 

[erugs]

Mottled in coloring? Yes, that was the first thing I noticed. Like a fox only not just red, not just gray, but a combination of colors. I didn't notice white on the tip of the tail, and the snout didn't seem pointed like a fox, nor its ears, but that could have been distorted from the way he(?) looked at me. From the pictures in the link above, the mottled looking face seems to be a give-away to it being a cross fox. I'm used to seeing a plain, cute face, both reds and grays, not one that makes me feel so startled as to it's appearance.

 

[sardog1]

Oh my gosh. Could it be? Here in New England? That's the closest I've seen in looks to what I remember. I've never heard of them before.

Cross foxes are merely a color phase of red foxes. We have one in our SE NH neighborhood.
If you had seen the tail tip color, that would be definitive. Gray fox has black, cross fox has white.

 

[Taconic]

Not to hijack the thread, but since the topic came up I figured I'd pose something that I've been curious about that probably doesn't warrant its own thread:

Do pine martens range as far south as northern CT? I was near the top of Bear Mtn around this time last year and I was approached by an animal I'd never seen before. It was dusk so it was hard to judge color, but it looked like it was light gray or tan. It was probably a juvenile (maybe 10" long) and surprisingly had no fear of me--it crawled out of some rocks, stood up top, and studied me until I decided to move past it. It was hardly more than arms length away. My first impression was that it was a ferret which made me wonder what exactly it was doing there, but when I did a double-take it clearly wasn't. The head was different (more like a marten's) and the fur was bushier. I didn't get a good look at the tail.

I never saw one before and haven't seen one since. Could it have been a marten?

 

[sardog1]

Do pine martens range as far south as northern CT? I was near the top of Bear Mtn around this time last year and I was approached by an animal I'd never seen before. It was dusk so it was hard to judge color, but it looked like it was light gray or tan. It was probably a juvenile (maybe 10" long) and surprisingly had no fear of me--it crawled out of some rocks, stood up top, and studied me until I decided to move past it. It was hardly more than arms length away. My first impression was that it was a ferret which made me wonder what exactly it was doing there, but when I did a double-take it clearly wasn't. The head was different (more like a marten's) and the fur was bushier. I didn't get a good look at the tail.

I never saw one before and haven't seen one since. Could it have been a marten?

Yes, it could be. Fifteen years ago the feds published The Scientific Basis for Conserving Forest Carnivores -- American Marten, Fisher, Lynx and Wolverine in the Western United States. This excellent report described the marten range then as extending through southern New England, thanks to transplantation. See page 9 of the report.

 

[Chip]

I never saw one before and haven't seen one since. Could it have been a marten?

didn't think so, but after some searching found it's certainly possible ! Cool !

We got everything else, why not martens ?

 

[nartreb]

Taconic: it could also have been an ermine or a long-tailed weasel. Ermines in particular are small: half a foot to a foot long not counting the tail.

 

[Taconic]

didn't think so, but after some searching found it's certainly possible ! Cool !

We got everything else, why not martens ?

Hmm. After going through that, I think it could have maybe even been a young fisher. This picture from your link is pretty similar to what I saw. Different coloration and I remember the ears being a little more prominent, but it's possible that's what I saw. Most fisher pictures I've seen of fishers have been like the one previously posted in the thread, so I sort of ruled it out.

Then again, it could have been a marten. It's nice to know that they're here. I guess I'll never know for sure since I didn't take a picture, but I think marten and a young fisher are the prime suspects. Regardless, it's kind of cool to run into something you've never seen despite living in an area for your entire life.

Thanks.

 

[stu]

Grey Fox

Hey now!

I vote grey fox. Although southern Maine is about the limit to their northern range, I believe you saw a Grey Fox. Greys often have a good deal of red coloring. As a side note Grey Fox are very "cat" like, in fact they will not hesitate to climb trees! A very cool and handsome animal.

Cheers, STU

 

[stu]

Grey Fox

Hey now!

I vote grey fox. Although southern Maine is about the limit to the northern range, I believe you saw a Grey Fox. Greys often have a good deal of red coloring. As a side note Grey Fox are very "cat" like, in fact they will not hesitate to climb trees! A very cool and handsome animal.

Cheers, STU

 

[sardog1]

Taconic: it could also have been an ermine or a long-tailed weasel. Ermines in particular are small: half a foot to a foot long not counting the tail.

This is what I first thought as well, based on its behavior and your color description. The martens I've met have been shyer than their other mustelid cousins that I have encountered and they're usually somewhat darker.

 

[RickB.]

Foxes and weasels have dramatically different body shapes. If you could, I would try to remember more about the animals body than its face, scariness notwithstanding. Differentiating a fisher and a fox is like doing so with a skunk and a medium sized dog.