It’s not every day that you get a glimpse of a creature as elusive as the fisher, but that’s exactly what happened in the woods of Murrysville, Pennsylvania.
A trail cam captured footage of this secretive, sleek predator—a sighting that left wildlife enthusiasts buzzing. The fisher, a mid-sized carnivore known for its stealthy hunting skills, was once thought to have disappeared from Pennsylvania’s forests entirely. But thanks to the careful placement of a camera by Bill Powers, founder of the wildlife streaming service PixCams, the fisher has made a surprise return to the spotlight.
Powers, speaking to the Murrysville Star, couldn’t contain his excitement when he discovered the footage. “I put the camera on an old fallen log in a remote area and kept it there several months,” he explained. “I pulled the SD card last week, and to my amazement, it captured a photo of a fisher in mid-June.” For Powers, it was like finding treasure in the woods. “Finding the footage was like Christmas morning,” he said. “You never know what you might see. That was the case yesterday.”
This sighting is a big deal for Pennsylvania wildlife enthusiasts. Fishers, which are among the largest members of the weasel family, were once abundant in the state. However, due to a combination of unregulated hunting and widespread deforestation in the late 19th century, they largely disappeared from the region. Only in recent years, thanks to reintroduction efforts in neighboring states, have they begun to slowly creep back into Pennsylvania’s forests. But even then, sightings like the one in Murrysville remain exceedingly rare, making this discovery something of a small miracle.
Fishers are unique in many ways. Despite their name, these nimble predators aren’t known for catching fish. Instead, they were named for their resemblance to the European polecat, or “fitch.” They have a diverse diet that includes rabbits, squirrels, mice, and even porcupines—a feat few other animals can manage. Fishers are one of the few carnivores that can take down a porcupine, using their agility and sharp teeth to target the vulnerable areas around the head and face. But it’s not all carnivorous for them; they’re omnivores who also enjoy foraging for berries and other fruits in the forest canopy.
Typically found in the dense woods of New England, New York, and southern Canada, the fisher’s range doesn’t often extend as far south as Pennsylvania. Even more surprising is the location of this recent sighting—Murrysville is a couple of hours away from where fishers have previously been spotted in the state. Their preference for forested habitats makes them sensitive to changes in their environment, especially as climate change and habitat loss continue to shape the landscape. As Powers put it, seeing one is “super rare, kind of like finding a needle in a haystack.”
Fishers are notoriously shy and are known to steer clear of open areas like fields and roads. That makes this footage from the dense woods of Murrysville all the more special. For Bill Powers, it’s moments like these that make his work worthwhile, helping people connect with the hidden wonders of nature that still lurk in Pennsylvania’s forests. And for anyone who thought the fisherman was just a ghost of the past, this sighting is a reminder that nature can still surprise us when we least expect it.
