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2015 Northeastern Naturalist Notes Vol. 22, No. 4
N.D. Moncrief and M.L. Fies
Report of First Specimens of Pekania pennanti (Fisher) from
Virginia
Nancy D. Moncrief
1,* and Michael L. Fies2
Abstract - Pekania pennanti (Fisher) is believed to have occurred in portions of western Virginia
prior to the late 1800s. However, except for fossil remains, no specimen or evidence of this species
from Virginia has ever been reported in a museum collection. Here we document recent evidence of
Fishers in Virginia from verified photographic records submitted to the Virginia Department of Game
and Inland Fisheries and voucher specimens deposited into the Mammal Collection of the Virginia
Museum of Natural History. These recently collected and observed Fishers in Virginia are likely
dispersers from expanding Fisher populations in western Maryland and eastern West Virginia. This
report provides the foundation for future investigations into the distribution and abundance of this
species in Virginia.
Pekania pennanti (Erxleben) (Fisher) occurred in the northern forests of North America
before European contact (ca. 1500). The geographic range of this species in historic times
was reported to have extended along the Appalachian Mountains as far south as western
North Carolina and eastern Tennessee (Audubon and Bachman 1846, Kurten and Anderson
1980, Powell 1981, Strickland et al. 1982). Evidence indicates that the Fisher’s range
became restricted during historic times as a result of habitat loss and unregulated trapping
(Lewis et al. 2012).
Virginia was likely near the southern extent of the Fisher’s historic range (Lewis et al.
2012), and the abundance of this species in the Commonwealth at the time of European
contact is unknown. It is believed that the Fisher occurred in portions of western Virginia
into the late 1800s (Handley 1980, 1991; Handley and Patton 1947). In 1846, before West
Virginia became a separate state, Audubon and Bachman (1846) described an encounter
with a Fisher that was chasing a Sciurus carolinensis Gmelin (Gray Squirrel) on Peter’s
Mountain, VA. This reported location is very near the current border of Monroe County,
WV, and Craig County, VA, and it is unclear whether this observation occurred within the
boundaries of modern-day Virginia. In his checklist of West Virginia mammals, Kellogg
(1937) cited several reports of early settlers killing “black foxes” in regions that were part
of the Commonwealth of Virginia until 1863. Also, Handley and Patton (1947) stated that,
as late as 1890, “black foxes” (animals they suspected were Fishers) were reported to have
been killed in Highland County, VA.
More recently, Handley (1980, 1991) detailed several sightings of presumed Fishers
in Highland, Rappahannock, and Rockingham counties, VA, during the early 1970s and
late 1980s. Observers described the animals in such a way that Handley (1991) believed
the animals were Fishers, but none of these accounts were documented by photographs or
specimens. If these observations were accurate, the animals were likely dispersers from
Fisher reintroduction efforts in eastern West Virginia in 1969 (Pack and Cromer 1981).
The only previously reported museum specimens of Fisher from Virginia are fossil remains
from Pleistocene deposits (Eshelman and Grady 1986, FAUNMAP Working Group
1Virginia Museum of Natural History, 21 Starling Avenue, Martinsville, VA 24112. 2Virginia
Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, PO Box 996, Verona, VA 24482. *Corresponding author -
nancy.moncrief@vmnh.virginia.gov.
Manuscript Editor: Jim Cardoza
Notes of the Northeastern Naturalist, Issue 22/4, 2015
2015 Northeastern Naturalist Notes Vol. 22, No. 4
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N.D. Moncrief and M.L. Fies
Figure 1. Current
distribution
(gray shading)
of Pekania pennanti
(Fisher) in
Pennsylvania,
Maryland, and
West Virginia
(adapted from
Lewis et al.
2012), and location
of counties
in Virginia
for which there
are documented
p h o t o g r a p h s
and/or museum
specimens.
1994). No other specimen of P. pennanti from Virginia has ever been reported in a museum
collection (Handley 1980, 1991; Handley and Patton 1947; Linzey 1998). Herein, we provide
details for the first specimens of Fishers collected in Virginia.
In 2008, personnel from the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (VDGIF)
examined and photographed 2 taxidermy mounts of Fishers that were killed by hunters
in Frederick County, VA, during 2006 and 2007 (F. Frenzel, VDGIF, Edinburg, VA, pers.
comm.). These mounts were not housed in a museum. More recently, between 2009 and
2015, photographs sent to one of us (M.L. Fies) confirmed the presence of Fishers in Frederick
County and 4 other Virginia counties (Fig. 1).
The following 3 Fisher specimens were recently deposited into the Mammal Collection
of the Virginia Museum of Natural History (VMNH). A female (VMNH 2564) was
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2015 Northeastern Naturalist Notes Vol. 22, No. 4
N.D. Moncrief and M.L. Fies
killed by a hunter near Star Tannery in Frederick County on 19 November 2011. A second
female (VMNH 2565) was found dead in Frederick County on 1 March 2014 near Cross
Junction, VA. A third female (VMNH 2566) was road-killed on 27 February 2014 in
Shenandoah County, VA, on Interstate 81 near mile marker 293.6. Each of these 3 specimens
is represented by a study skin, skull, and partial skeleton. Additionally, frozen tissue
samples (heart, liver, kidney, and skeletal muscle) were preserved from each animal. A
fourth Fisher, a road-killed male, was collected 8 miles north of Winchester on Route 522
in Frederick County on 5 April 2015, but this specimen has not yet been prepared and deposited
into the VMNH collection.
In an effort to better understand the historical distribution of the Fisher in Virginia, we
searched electronic databases of more than 50 museum collections using the VertNet portal.
We sent separate information requests to 7 institutions that do not have their collections databases
available online. Because this species was previously assigned to the genus Martes,
but recently was reclassified and placed in the genus Pekania (Koepfli et al. 2008, Li et al.
2014, Sato et al. 2012), we used both genus names in all our queries. We found no museum
records for Fisher specimens from Virginia.
The animals photographed and collected in Virginia between 2006 and 2015 almost
certainly are Fishers that dispersed from expanding populations in western Maryland and
eastern West Virginia. In 1969, the West Virginia Department of Natural Resources released
23 Fishers from New Hampshire at 2 sites in eastern West Virginia: Canaan Mountain and
Cranberry Glades (Fig. 1; Pack and Cromer 1981). According to Pack and Cromer (1981),
no known Fisher population existed within 460 km of West Virginia at that time. By 1980,
the Fisher had become reestablished in West Virginia and was also documented in western
Maryland (Cottrell 1978, Dzialiak et al. 2006, Pack and Cromer 1981) and reported (without
specimens or photographic evidence) in western Virginia (Handley 1980, 1991).
In the late 1800s, Fishers may have been restricted to the dense, isolated spruce and
fir forests on the highest ridges (Handley 1980, 1991; Handley and Patton 1947; Linzey
1998) that were perhaps the last vestiges of mature forests in Virginia. However, recent
studies suggest that Fishers are much more tolerant of human activity than they were
once thought to be, colonizing different habitat types than previously expected (Gess et
al. 2013, Kilpatrick and Rego 1994, Kontos and Bologna 2008). In the past few decades,
Fisher populations in other areas of the eastern United States have expanded their geographic
range, in part because of reintroductions (Lewis et al. 2012). For example, Fishers
have been documented recently in New Jersey after being extirpated during the late 1800s
(Kontos and Bologna 2008).
The number of confirmed photographic records of Fishers in western Virginia has increased
in recent years (M.L. Fies, pers. observ.). While this increase is almost certainly the
result of range expansion by this species from eastern West Virginia and western Maryland
(Cottrell 1978, Dzialiak et al. 2006, Pack and Cromer 1981), these additional photographic
records may also be a reflection, in part, of the increased availability and use of digital trail
cameras during the past decade. Regardless of the particular circumstances associated with
the Fisher’s occurrence in Virginia since 2006, this report documents recent physical evidence
of this species in 5 counties, and it provides the foundation for future investigations
into the distribution and abundance of Fishers in this state.
Acknowledgments. We thank J.E. Cardoza and 2 anonymous reviewers for their comments
and suggestions on an earlier draft of this manuscript. We also thank M.A. Cartwright
for drafting Figure 1.
2015 Northeastern Naturalist Notes Vol. 22, No. 4
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N.D. Moncrief and M.L. Fies
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