CHAPTER VIII. 



HOW TO CATCH THE FISHER. 



The Fisher, or Black Cat of our hunters, is a small, yet 

 powerful animal, standing nearly a foot from the ground. 

 It was formerly very abundant in the Middle States, but 

 is now confined to the thinly settled northern districts. It 

 is a nocturnal species, and lives chiefly on the smaller 

 quadrupeds; but also devours frogs, fishes, and serpents. 

 It climbs with great ease, and takes up its abode in the 

 trunk of a tree. The form of the body is typical ; head 

 broad, nose acute, ears about three inches from the nose, 

 broad, rounded, and distant ; the fore feet are shorter than 

 the hind ones, and the soles of both are covered with 

 short hair; the color is grayish over the head and ante- 

 rior parts of the body, dark brown or black behind. 



The name of Fisher, which has been censured as not 

 applicable to the animal, is, however, that by which he is 

 best known, and which it has received from its character- 

 istic habits. Richardson states that it feeds on the hoard 

 of frozen fish stored up by the inhabitants. We are in- 

 formed by a person who resided many years near Lake 

 Oneida, where the Fisher was then common, that the 

 name was derived from its singular fondness for the fish 



used to bait traps. The hunters were in the habit of 

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