Habitat Use and Diet of Fishers

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Abstract
We studied habitat use and diets of 43 radio-collared fishers (Martes pennanti) in south-central Maine from January 1984 to August 1987. Coniferous stands were preferred for rest sites during spring, summer, and fall when fishers usually rested in the branches of coniferous trees. During winter, fishers usually rested in ground burrows in mixed stands. Active fishers used a variety of forest types, especially during summer. During winter, fishers hunted intensively in dense patches of coniferous undergrowth, where snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus) tracks were common, and used deciduous stands less than expected by availability. Winter foods included apples, porcupines (Erethizon dorsatum), hares, gray squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis), red squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus), flying squirrels (Glaucomys sabrinus), mice (Peromyscus spp.), voles (Clethrionomys gapperi and Microtus spp.), and shrews (Sorex spp. and Blarina spp.). Because of the diversity of the fisher's diet, optimal habitat probably includes a mixture of forest types, including some coniferous cover.