On February 17th, Environmental Conservation Officers (ECOs) Gross and Levanway responded to a call from a teller at the Lyons National Bank in Seneca Falls, Seneca County, NY, reporting a fisher running laps around the building.
When the ECOs arrived at the bank, the teller said the fisher had been running around the building for two to three hours, and had tried to enter the building at one point. The officers said they searched the area and located the erratic animal running near the roadway.
The animal’s behavior and lack of fear around people prompted them to euthanize it. The ECOs submitted the animal to the Cornell Wildlife Health Lab for testing and necropsy.
Fishers, which have an undeserved bad reputation for being aggressive, get a inhabit a unique ecological niche as a predator of porcupines, and are trapped for their fur. They are typically elusive and have been in decline in some areas of the state for unknown reasons.
Joe Kostoss photo provided by Adirondack Wildlife Refuge.
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