Last year, Ohio biologists collected a dead mammal from a driveway in Ashtabula County, in the far northeast corner of the state.
It wasn鈥檛 a racoon or a possum or even a skunk. This mammal was a much rarer specimen: a fisher.
The weasel-like animal was pushed out of Ohio in the mid-1800s, when many of the state鈥檚 forests were converted to farmland.
But now, scientists believe fishers could be reproducing here again, because the fisher they collected from Ashtabula was pregnant.
鈥淭he fact that she was collected and was pregnant, we assume that it鈥檚 likely that there are other fisher out there that are also reproducing,鈥� said Katie Dennison, a wildlife biologist with the Ohio Division of Wildlife. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 a good sign in general for the population.鈥�
What鈥檚 a fisher?
Fishers are forest-dwelling mammals in the weasel family. They鈥檙e related to mink and otters. But they鈥檙e bigger than weasels 鈥� about the size of a housecat.
They鈥檙e very long with short legs, Dennison said, and they鈥檙e carnivores. They eat small mammals like squirrels and rabbits, and they鈥檙e one of the few animals that preys on porcupines.
Fishers are . For a long time, they roamed the forests of Canada and the northern U.S.
But by the 1930s, habitat loss and over-trapping almost pushed the animal out of the country entirely.
Why are fishers coming back to Ohio?
In recent decades, states like Pennsylvania and West Virginia have launched reintroduction efforts to re-establish the animal.
Ohio has benefited from these efforts, Dennison said.
鈥淏oth of those states have seen increasing fisher populations, and now we鈥檙e seeing fisher come in, in particular from Pennsylvania into Ohio,鈥� she explained. 鈥淪o we鈥檙e really benefiting from those expanding fisher populations in neighboring states.鈥�
At the same time, she said Ohio鈥檚 forests are steadily returning. Since 1970, the state has gained of forested land.
Fishers rely on a forest habitat, so this land is critical to their return to the state.
The first sighting of a modern-day fisher in Ohio was confirmed in 2013. Since then, Ohio scientists have confirmed across nine northeast Ohio counties: Ashtabula, Columbiana, Geauga, Trumbull, Mahoning, Lake, Jefferson, Harrison and Tuscarawas.
The majority of those sightings happened in the last three years, and since the Ohio Division of Wildlife confirmed the roadkill fisher was pregnant, they believe, if fishers aren鈥檛 already reproducing in the state, they will be soon.
What other animals are back in Ohio?
The return of fishers to Ohio is one of many wildlife success stories here, Dennison said.
have made a recent comeback too. They were also wiped out of the state in the mid-1800s, but since the early 2000s, sightings of them have become increasingly common.
The Ohio Division of Wildlife reintroduced 123 to the state in the 1980s. They now estimate the population to be over 6,500.
Sightings of , a state endangered species, have been increasing in Ohio since the 鈥�90s.
And have returned to the state too.
鈥淭he list goes on,鈥� Dennison said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e had a lot of success stories here.鈥�
