---
title: "Fisher (Pekania pennanti) | AnimalTracks.wiki"
description: "A fox-sized relative of weasels that climbs trees, hunts porcupines and whose females spend almost all of their adult lives pregnant or nursing."
image: "https://animaltracks.wiki/images/animals/fisher-1.webp"
published: "2026-10-11"
updated: "2026-10-11"
---
# Fisher (*Pekania pennanti*)
> **Status**: Checked against 4 sources, listed under Sources below.
> **Tagline**: A fox-sized relative of weasels that climbs trees, hunts porcupines and whose females spend almost all of their adult lives pregnant or nursing.
> **Soundtrack Vibe**: Glacial Ambient & Drone Soundscapes // Pauline Oliveros, "Lear"
> **Soundtrack Links**: [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/track/58tXLPg2DQsrg5ts5CqWrR)
> **Vibe Match**: Once a female fisher's eggs are fertilized, the embryos stop growing for 10 to 11 months. Pauline Oliveros recorded Lear in an empty underground cistern whose echo holds each sound in the air for about 45 seconds.
## Biological Superpowers & Stats
- **Taxonomy**: *Pekania pennanti*
- **Danger Level**: Medium
- **Conservation Status**: Least Concern ([IUCN Red List](https://doi.org/10.2305/iucn.uk.2016-2.rlts.t41651a125236220.en))
- **Superpower**: Its embryos pause for 10 to 11 months and a mother mates again soon after giving birth, so a female is pregnant or nursing for almost all of her adult life
- **Habitat**: Coniferous forests, also mixed and deciduous ones, from the Sierra Nevada of California to the Appalachians
- **Diet**: Mice, porcupines, squirrels, snowshoe hares, birds and shrews, plus some fruit
- **Tags**: mammal, mustelid, carnivore, forest, climber
## Natural History & Behavior
## Built for tight spaces
The fisher belongs to the weasel family and is fox-sized, with short legs, a long body, small rounded ears and a long, bushy tail. It has five toes on each foot and retractable claws. It is an agile, speedy tree climber, although it usually travels on the ground. On average, males are the larger sex, with a body length of 900 to 1200 mm and a weight of 3.5 to 5 kg. Females measure 750 to 950 mm and weigh 2 to 2.5 kg.
Its trick is stretching out. Only the fisher and the American marten are medium-sized predators that can climb well and also stretch their bodies out to follow prey into holes in the ground, hollow trees and other tight spaces.
## Porcupine on the menu
Fishers are solitary hunters that look for prey their own size or smaller, though they can take bigger animals. The menu includes mice, squirrels, snowshoe hares, birds and shrews, and they may also eat fruit and berries. They also hunt porcupines, and Animal Diversity Web notes that this can help control porcupines, which damage timber by stripping bark and killing trees.
## A pause button on pregnancy
> **Paused pregnancy**
> Once a female's eggs are fertilized, the embryos stop growing for 10 to 11 months. Counting that pause, her pregnancy runs 11 to 12 months.
Biologists call this delayed implantation: the fertilized egg reaches the womb but delays attaching to its lining. The female then gives birth, to an average of 3 young, and soon afterward mates again. So a female spends almost all of her adult life pregnant or nursing.
Newborns are blind, nearly naked and weigh about 40 grams. Their eyes open after about 53 days. By four months old they can hunt for themselves. In captivity, one fisher lived 14.3 years.
## From Sierra Nevada to Appalachians
The fisher is found nowhere but North America. Its range reaches south along California's Sierra Nevada and down the Appalachian chain, as far as West Virginia and Virginia, and it is absent from the prairies and the southern United States. They prefer coniferous forest with plenty of hollow trees for dens. Each fisher keeps a home range of 15 to 35 square kilometers, averaging about 25.
Trapping for pelts once had a significant effect on their numbers, and logging destroys the near-continuous conifer forest they prefer. Virginia lost its fishers by the late 1800s to habitat destruction, heavy trapping and shooting, but in the past 20 years more have been sighted there, with evidence of breeding. In 2003 Animal Diversity Web reported that numbers seemed to have rebounded in parts of North America, including Michigan, Ontario, New York and some of New England. The IUCN Red List rates the species Least Concern, filed under its older name, *Martes pennanti*.
## Frequently Asked Questions
### How big is a fisher?
A male runs 90 to 120 centimeters long and weighs 3.5 to 5 kilograms. A female is smaller on average, at 75 to 95 centimeters and 2 to 2.5 kilograms. *(Source: [Animal Diversity Web]())*
### How long does a fisher live?
In the wild, fishers may live up to 10 years. One fisher in AnAge's database lived 14.3 years in captivity. *(Source: [Human Ageing Genomic Resources, AnAge]())*
### Is a fisher a cat?
No. It belongs to Mustelidae, the family Animal Diversity Web describes as badgers, otters, weasels and their relatives. *(Source: [Animal Diversity Web]())*
### How long is a fisher pregnant?
Almost a full year: 11 to 12 months in all. For 10 to 11 of those months the embryo is on hold, picking up again late in the winter after mating. *(Source: [Animal Diversity Web]())*
## Sources
1. [Martes pennanti. Animal Diversity Web.]()
2. [AnAge entry for Martes pennanti. Human Ageing Genomic Resources, AnAge.]()
3. [Fisher. Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources.]()
4. [Helgen & Reid (2018). Martes pennanti. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2018: e.T41651A125236220.]()
*Published October 11, 2026. Last updated October 11, 2026.*
```json
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@graph": [
{
"@type": "Article",
"@id": "https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/fisher/#article",
"isPartOf": {
"@id": "https://animaltracks.wiki/#website"
},
"headline": "Fisher (Pekania pennanti) | AnimalTracks.wiki",
"description": "A fox-sized relative of weasels that climbs trees, hunts porcupines and whose females spend almost all of their adult lives pregnant or nursing.",
"image": [
"https://animaltracks.wiki/images/animals/fisher-1.webp"
],
"datePublished": "2026-10-11",
"dateModified": "2026-10-11",
"author": [
{
"@type": "Organization",
"name": "AnimalTracks.wiki Editorial Team",
"url": "https://animaltracks.wiki"
}
],
"publisher": {
"@type": "Organization",
"@id": "https://animaltracks.wiki/#organization",
"name": "AnimalTracks.wiki",
"url": "https://animaltracks.wiki",
"logo": {
"@type": "ImageObject",
"url": "https://animaltracks.wiki/icon-512.png"
}
},
"mainEntityOfPage": "https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/fisher/",
"citation": [
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"name": "Martes pennanti",
"url": "https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Martes_pennanti/",
"publisher": {
"@type": "Organization",
"name": "Animal Diversity Web"
}
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"name": "AnAge entry for Martes pennanti",
"url": "https://genomics.senescence.info/species/entry.php?species=Martes_pennanti",
"publisher": {
"@type": "Organization",
"name": "Human Ageing Genomic Resources, AnAge"
}
},
{
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"name": "Fisher",
"url": "http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/wildlife/information/fisher/",
"publisher": {
"@type": "Organization",
"name": "Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources"
}
},
{
"@type": "ScholarlyArticle",
"name": "Martes pennanti. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2018: e.T41651A125236220",
"url": "https://doi.org/10.2305/iucn.uk.2016-2.rlts.t41651a125236220.en",
"author": "Helgen & Reid",
"datePublished": "2018",
"isPartOf": {
"@type": "Periodical",
"name": "The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species"
},
"identifier": "doi:10.2305/iucn.uk.2016-2.rlts.t41651a125236220.en"
}
],
"about": {
"@type": "Taxon",
"name": "Fisher",
"scientificName": "Pekania pennanti",
"description": "Its embryos pause for 10 to 11 months and a mother mates again soon after giving birth, so a female is pregnant or nursing for almost all of her adult life"
}
},
{
"@type": "FAQPage",
"@id": "https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/fisher/#faq",
"mainEntity": [
{
"@type": "Question",
"name": "How big is a fisher?",
"acceptedAnswer": {
"@type": "Answer",
"text": "A male runs 90 to 120 centimeters long and weighs 3.5 to 5 kilograms. A female is smaller on average, at 75 to 95 centimeters and 2 to 2.5 kilograms.",
"citation": {
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"name": "Martes pennanti",
"url": "https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Martes_pennanti/",
"publisher": {
"@type": "Organization",
"name": "Animal Diversity Web"
}
}
}
},
{
"@type": "Question",
"name": "How long does a fisher live?",
"acceptedAnswer": {
"@type": "Answer",
"text": "In the wild, fishers may live up to 10 years. One fisher in AnAge's database lived 14.3 years in captivity.",
"citation": {
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"name": "AnAge entry for Martes pennanti",
"url": "https://genomics.senescence.info/species/entry.php?species=Martes_pennanti",
"publisher": {
"@type": "Organization",
"name": "Human Ageing Genomic Resources, AnAge"
}
}
}
},
{
"@type": "Question",
"name": "Is a fisher a cat?",
"acceptedAnswer": {
"@type": "Answer",
"text": "No. It belongs to Mustelidae, the family Animal Diversity Web describes as badgers, otters, weasels and their relatives.",
"citation": {
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"name": "Martes pennanti",
"url": "https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Martes_pennanti/",
"publisher": {
"@type": "Organization",
"name": "Animal Diversity Web"
}
}
}
},
{
"@type": "Question",
"name": "How long is a fisher pregnant?",
"acceptedAnswer": {
"@type": "Answer",
"text": "Almost a full year: 11 to 12 months in all. For 10 to 11 of those months the embryo is on hold, picking up again late in the winter after mating.",
"citation": {
"@type": "CreativeWork",
"name": "Martes pennanti",
"url": "https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Martes_pennanti/",
"publisher": {
"@type": "Organization",
"name": "Animal Diversity Web"
}
}
}
}
]
},
{
"@type": "MusicRecording",
"name": "Lear",
"byArtist": {
"@type": "MusicGroup",
"name": "Pauline Oliveros"
},
"genre": "Glacial Ambient & Drone Soundscapes",
"url": "https://open.spotify.com/track/58tXLPg2DQsrg5ts5CqWrR"
}
]
}
```