So, its been weeks since we’ve posted anything and now that I do it is not going to be about fishers. Not very cool of me I know but I promise a fisher post will be forthcoming shortly.
In the meantime I thought, for those of you not already aware, that I’d give some more publicity to one of the more recent visitors to Butte County (Canis lupus; aka OR-7). If you read the article you’ll note that this dispersing male wolf is (or was) theoretically not very far from Butte Meadows. We have fishers in this same area and so this might be the first in a long time that you could conceivably wander in the Northern Sierra and have the chance to see a wolf and a fisher on the same day. Okay, the odds are pretty slim of seeing either individually on any given day and the odds of seeing both are even more remote. Nevertheless, the odds are aren’t zero which is more than you could have said just a few years (or days) ago.
I cant’ immediately recall any reported interactions between wolves and fishers and given that there is a single wolf I doubt we’ll be making any such discoveries. In any case its makes things just a little more interesting to think we could cross paths with a wolf while we are out studying fishers. I reckon I don’t need another reason to go out to look for fishers but one more never hurts.
-ANF-
Northern Sierra Fisher Reintroduction 
Aaron and Crew – This is really exciting! I know Amy and I both have loved the wolves since she worked with them at Wolf Mountain Sanctuary down in SO CAL and she did a presentation at the conclave on Journey – but to be in the same place that he has wandered into is unbelievable good fortune. IHad heard speculation he wondered into CA looking for a mate, but I think he was really looking for Amy…
A recent sighting of a pair of mountain lions in Stirling City;; How do fishers fare/relate to cougars?
Ed,
Mountain lions will kill fishers when the get the chance. Research by Greta Wengert at UC Davis indicates that bobcats kill and eat more fishers than do mountain lions. Interestingly, mountain lion seem to kill more male fishers than do bobcats. Two of our fishers that were killed this year were likely killed by mountain lions – see my post on 18308 – but we are awaiting the results from Greta. I recently saw a mountain lion near Flea mountain while out dong some night work and someone on the crew seems to see one every few months while out tracking animals. We know there are quite of few out there.