354 ^"EW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



Principal records. De Kay: "Its geographic range extends from 

 the Atlantic to the Pacific" ('42, p. 34). Merriam: " The marten is a 

 common resident of the dark evergreen forests of the Adirondacks, and 

 hundreds of them are trapped here every winter for their fur " ('82, 

 p. 52). Mearns : "Some of the residents assert that both the pine 

 marten and the pekan, M. pennanti Erxleben, are still sometimes taken in 

 the Catskills, others exclude the pekan, but say that the marten still 

 exists" ('98b, p. 360). 



Mustela pennanti Erxleben Fisher 

 1777 Mustela pennanti Erxleben, Syst. regn. anim. p. 470. 

 1842 Mustela canadensis De Kay, Zoology of New York, Mammalia/ 



P- 3 1 - 



1882 Mustela pennanti Merriam, Linn. soc. New York. Trans. 1 : 48. 



1898 Mustela pennanti Mearns, U. S. Nat. mus. Proc. 21 : 360. 



Type locality. Canada. 



Faunal position. Boreal zone and probably transition zone also. 



Habitat. Forests. 



Distribution in New York. The fisher which formerly ranged through 

 the greater part of the state is now confined to the wilder parts of the 

 Adirondacks though it occasionally wanders outside of this region. 



Principal records. De Kay : " The fisher or black cat of our hunters, 

 is a large and powerful animal, standing nearly a foot from the ground. 

 It was formerly very abundant in this state, but is now confined to the 

 thinly settled northern district. Twenty years ago they were numerous in 

 the western part of the state, where they are now scarcely ever seen " 

 ('42, p. 31-32). Merriam: " Though not so common as formerly, the 

 fisher . . . is by no means a rare inhabitant of these [Adirondack] 

 mountains " (' 82, p. 48). Mearns : (see under Mustela americand). 



Of the occurrence of this animal in Erie co. Mr Savage writes: 

 "The fisher was probably common in this region before it was trapped 

 out and the forests destroyed. In March, 1889, a fisher was killed after 

 being found under a lumber pile near the Niagara river and in the city of 

 Buffalo. It was mounted by Miss Mathilde Schlegel now of East 

 Aurora, New York." 



Procyon lotor Linnaeus Raccoon 



1758 [ Ursus\ lotor Linnaeus, Syst. nat. ed. 10. 1:48. 



1780 Procyon lotor Storr, ' Prodr. Meth. Mamm.' 



1842 Procyon lotor De Kay, Zoology of New York, Mammalia, p. 26. 



