It's called a fisher and it doesn't look like much but this thing is about the only animal that can take down a porcupine. Many a domestic cat has used up its ninth and final life thanks to this tenacious creature.
A few years ago, we discovered one under the bushes beneath our kitchen window. I had never seen one before and the fact that it just stayed there and watched me instead of high tailing it out of my sight led me to believe that it was either sick or had rabies.
I spent the next couple of hours calling the Ministry of Natural Resources and our local animal control office to see who was responsible for removing it. It was finally arranged that someone would come to capture it that afternoon. I went out and placed a bowl of water and some bits of banana near the bush (what can I say?, I have a soft spot for animals). Just before noon, the thing ate the banana, drank some water, and sauntered off. Problem solved.
Ian came home from work and I told him all about the excitement. He was not impressed that I had fed it telling me that I was only inviting trouble. I rolled my eyes and told him I was pretty sure it would not come back. Wrong. I came home that night after being gone for a few hours only to be told in a rather cool manner that "my friend" was back most likely because I had fed it. It was then that I tried to convince the two kids left at home to come out and see it with me. Brittany would have none of it (she said it was too cold) but Nathan was a willing participant. He grabbed a flashlight and I grabbed a banana and out we went. We snuck quietly around the house, me in front and Nathan just behind lighting the way with the flashlight. I didn't want to get too close because of the whole rabies fear so I chucked a bit of the banana at it. The thing just stood there and looked at us so we stepped a little closer and I threw another piece of banana. I don't think it was too impressed because it arched its back, opened its mouth wide to show us its very long, sharp teeth, hissed at us, and then started to come toward us. I screamed, and Nathan in his rush to get away, pushed me in the direction of the fisher and took off with the flashlight leaving me in total darkness with a ticked off fisher. With the adrenaline rush that followed, I made it back into the house almost before Nathan did. We slammed the door shut and collapsed into a fit of giggles.
I could hear Ian calling from the bedroom asking what the heck was going on so I went up to tell him that we had just got a little fright when we went to look at the fisher, Nathan in the meanwhile had gone into the kitchen to turn on the outside light to check to see if the fisher was still there. As I was standing there listening to the second lecture Ian was giving me on how I should never have fed the fisher that morning we heard Nathan call from the kitchen. "Hey Mom, it's eating the banana". Thanks Nathan.
