A trail camera in Pennsylvania filmed photos of the same elusive “fisherman” – months after the first sighting of the animal, which was thought to be extinct in the state.
The rarely seen woodland-dwelling mammal was photographed by trail cameras installed pixcam Last month in the woods of Murrysville in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania.
PixCams, which previously ran livestream nature webcams captured the fisherman on his trail camera In summer.
PixCams says its trail camera took 10 other photos of the fisherman on four separate occasions and shared the images On Facebook.
The organization says this proves that the first sighting of the animal “was not accidental” and that the fisherman appears to live not far from where the recording equipment was set up.
A discovery that would never have happened without trail cameras
Bill Powers of PixCams says the discovery of the fissure would not have been possible without trail camera technology.
“The enthusiasm level is very low,” Powers said. says CBS News.
“People never see it. And this is also something that is very elusive.
“Like if you come out, it will just run away and hide. Therefore, the chances of people seeing it without the technology are very low.
A species once extirpated in Pennsylvania
Fisher is commonly found in Massachusetts, New England, New York, and southern Canada, with a rare occurrence in Pennsylvania.
Fishermen were completely eliminated from Pennsylvania during a period of unregulated hunting and intense deforestation in the late 1800s.
For a long time the animals had become completely extinct in the state. However, in the mid-1990s, about 200 fishers were reintroduced to six locations in northern Pennsylvania and the population is slowly increasing.
“I think it just reflects the biodiversity of western Pennsylvania,” Powers explains. CBS News“It’s great. You know, we’re seeing species that we didn’t see 10, 20 years ago.
Fishmongers – which are omnivorous members of the mongoose family – are one of the few animals capable of killing and eating porcupines.
Fishermen rely on their keen sense of smell to locate prey and are particularly known for their unique ability to hunt porcupines. Despite the porcupine’s dangerous quills, which make it a challenging target, stealth fishermen focus on attacking vulnerable areas such as the head and face to successfully kill the rodent.
Fishermen also hunt rabbits, squirrels, raccoons, rats, reptiles, and sometimes outdoor cats.
The fisherman captured by Pixcams is probably about 36 inches long. But males can grow up to 48 inches long.
Earlier this week, petapixel chose some of The best trail camera images of 2024,
Image Credit: All photos by Facebook/Pixcams.