Wild Animal Danger Question

Any wildlife experts out there? For several months I haven't been able to take Sully for walks in the woods due to snow cover and at times extreme cold. As the snow is finally melting I was looking forward to going farther into the woods. For the past several weeks we have had a bold fisher that roams through the yard daily. It didn't run when it saw Sully and I were looking out the window at it. It was very close to the house, but we do live in a wooded area. Fishers typically live in the northern US states, and they are dangerous to wild rabbits and small pets, even porcupines, but I am not sure if they would go after a corgi-sized pet. Apparently they are very aggressive. Does anyone know how dangerous they really are? The animal control officer said he would try to trap it but they are impossible to catch. The property management put up warning signs and removed some wood piles and logs that may attract them but it is still hanging around. According to animal control they have no predators so they are typically bold, but they usually don't come out during the day. He said it may be extra hungry with the snow cover, or it may be rabid. I have been bringing a whistle to blow if I see it but I am not sure if that would deter it from approaching us. I hate to be banned from the woods since we are surrounded by woods and it limits walks so much. Thanks in advance!

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Permalink Reply by Linda on March 10, 2014 at 1:32pm

Holly...good idea to check out any kind of store that supplies farmers or ranchers. I live in a city but I had raccoons taking koi out of my pond, we couldn't trap and move him by law...rabies are too high on my area. We went to the local feed supply place (we have a lot of farms here) and had to get coyote urine to put around our property to drive him off. I wouldn't be surprised if they had some kind of spray that can be used for protection also.

I don't have a problem with hunting, here it keeps down the deer population. There are more deer in the Hudson Valley now than when Henry Hudson sailed up the river named for him. I do have a problem with hunters being in areas near any kind of human population and those that can't tell the difference between a deer and a cow. Many years ago when we had our first Irish Wolfhound we were on private land owned by the company my husband worked for...an explosive company. He had work to do in the magazines, it was a beautiful early fall day so I went along with our dog. She was leashed and we were walking the grounds not far from the magazines holding things like dynamite. Someone took a shoot at us. Thank goodness they were a lousy shot! Tasha was a red brindle wolfhound so I'm sure they thought she was a deer. They were on posted land and there were homes within the allowed legal distance of the magazines. Those were the days before cell phones..yeah, the dark ages...but as soon as we left there, which was immediately, and got home we called the state police. Someone was going to get killed.

We've had farmers who have painted in hot pink letters COW or HORSE on their animals in hunting season.

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Permalink Reply by Vicky Hay on March 11, 2014 at 12:06am

Garrrh! Friends of ours were visiting their friends who lived out in the Arizona sticks when their hosts' Siamese cat came limping in. They thought it had tangled with a wild animal; raced it down the mountain to the nearest vet (45 minutes away...). Vet said, "this cat has been shot!"

Cat patched up, the very annoyed humans returned to finish barbecuing dinner. So they're standing outside grilling their hamburgers when two morons come strutting up. "Hunters." (Scare quotes used advisedly....) These two ninnies, very excited, brag that they shot a MOUNTAIN LION that got away.

No joke. They thought the Siamese was a mountain lion.

Heh. Comes under the heading of "the better I get to know people, the more I like my dog," I guess.