Monday, May 3, 2010

Nature on the Run

I may never get to see a moose, but this morning I saw my fourth fisher - second one this year, third along this particular stretch of road.

I was driving eastward out of Newcomb, on my weekly jaunt to The City to run errands, when zip - beautiful fisher dashed across the road not twenty feet in front of my car. It was the best view I've had of this rather secretive forest dweller, despite its speed.

The tail was stretched straight out behind as itbooked with all possible haste to cross the blacktop. What was that gait? I want to say a 2x2, but it really wasn't doing the hunched back thing we associate with weasels. I'd be willing to say it was a lope, if not a full out gallop. Of course, there is no way to know, since pavement makes a really poor tracking medium.

A great way to start the morning.

7 comments:

  1. Dear Ellen,
    There is an old saying that there is a moose for everyone, somewhere in the world. You just have to makes your paths cross.
    Tom

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hurrah for you! Isn't it amazing that we so seldom see a fisher, especially since their tracks are all over the place in the snow.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wow, that's pretty neat! Don't think I will see one of them in the middle of NC. Too bad you don't have one of those cameras like the Troopers have in their cars so that we could see a video of the fisher high tailing it across the road.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Tom - Oh, I know there's a moose out there for me somewhere - I just hope our paths don't cross some dark night while I'm driving home!

    Jackie - it's true - we see a lot more tracks than we do animals!

    Karen - what a great idea! Maybe I'll use my lottery winnings and get one installed. :D

    ReplyDelete
  5. We always joke when we are on vacation in the UP of Michigan, that the moose are only a myth. To bring in more tourists. :) Your job sounds ideal. B.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Ellen,
    I enjoy your in depth writeups on adk almanac. Thanks for sharing as you do. My wife and I have enjoyed the company of 3 different and regular fishers outside of our house for several years now. Also gotten some incredible closeup pics of them which you're welcome to if you let me know.

    Anyway, any chance of doing an almanac article on them?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Kevin - I'm glad you enjoy my pieces. THREE fishers? How exciting! Have you seen all three together, or are they so vastly different that they are easily told apart? I'd love to see some of your pics. If you'd like to send them via email, I'm at ejrathbone@gmail.com.

    I will look into doing a piece on fishers. They are a great topic - and it could tie in to the "wolverine" sightings I keep hearing about.

    ReplyDelete