![]() ![]() Note that the fisher is quite silent during the attack while the poor fox is very vocal. Here is a video of a fisher attacking a gray fox. ![]() Prior to making a kill, the last thing a predator wants to do is alert the prey that it is being stalked, and unless an animal lives in a pack and wants to attract its pack-mates, it is generally not in their best interest to make a lot of loud noises that might attract other potential predators to a recent kill. ![]() One assertion of the fisher cat screech that I believe is false is that the fisher would make this call when attacking another animal. Is this the legendary fisher cat screech or does anyone recognize this as some other animal? Of all the videos that I received, this is the only one that I’m pretty confident is not a fox and I don’t know what it could be. Skip ahead to 1:30 to hear the fisher in the first video. I would be interested to hear from anyone who has heard a fisher whether this is the type of sound that they heard. Most non-social animals only tend to vocalize loudly to attract mates during the breeding season or to warn con-specifics away from their territory. In both cases, the fisher appears to feel threatened, so I don’t know if this would be the same type of vocalization that fishers would make for other reasons. Two of these videos do indeed show a fisher making a screeching noise. Since I first published this article in 2011, several people have sent me interesting videos that I would like to share. This is not to say that fishers are not a potential danger to a lost or outdoor-access cat, but there are many other more likely causes for a cat to go missing. So the next time that someone tells you that they’re sure their missing cat was killed by a fisher because they heard one screeching in the night, try to reassure them that it was probably just a fox and they should definitely keep searching for their lost cat. Here is another video with actual footage of the foxes making the various calls. For some good examples of the various fox calls, check out this video. ![]() Having listened to many supposed fisher screams on the internet, I think that people most frequently confuse the calls of the red fox ( Vulpes vulpes) for the screams of the fisher. However, he did add a caveat to his answer that wild animals can and do surprise us and wild critters like fishers can be good at keeping their secrets. The only vocalizations that fishers generally make are quiet chuckles and occasional hisses or growls. He told me that to his knowledge, fishers do not make an eerie screaming sound. I even exchanged emails with the author of one book on fishers, Roger Powell. The next day she mated again for four hours and twenty-five minutes.” until 4:27 P.M., six hours and ten minutes. And the moment the mating was over, the female insisted on getting back to her pen immediately… The mating lasted from 10:17 A.M. Once the pair mated there was not a sound. Such noise! Such yowls! Such howling! No thousand cats caterwauling on a backyard fence at midnight ever could make such noise. And if there was anyone within a mile of us who did not think that some large animal was being tortured to death, that person must have been deaf. Laberee (1941) recounted the following description of a fisher pair mating: “Soon the love-making began. However, when I researched fisher ecology and behavior, I was unable to find any reference to fishers making any loud screams or screeches except for one old reference from a fur farm. The internet is also rife with postings and stories on the “fisher cat screech” and YouTube videos of purported fisher screams. The stories go that the fisher makes this terrible high-pitched screaming, which sounds like a woman being murdered, either when they are mating or when they are attacking another animal. Here in New England I frequently hear people talk about hearing an eerie screeching in the night, which they attribute to the fisher. Although it is frequently referred to as the “fisher cat,” the fisher ( Martes pennanti) is actually a medium-sized (4-13 lbs) member of the weasel family. ![]()
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