48 
MAMMALIA. 
ness. Dr. DeKay, writing in 1842, said: “Although we have not 
met with this animal, yet hunters who have killed them repeatedly, 
and knew them well, have assured us that they are still found in the 
districts north of Raquet Lake.’’* 
Dr. Bachman killed one, about the year 1S1 1, in its den in a ledge 
of rocks, in Rensselaer County, f 
I his animal is the Carcajou of the Canadians. 
MUSTELA PENN ANTI Erxleben. 
Fisher; Pekan; Pennant' s Marten; “Black Cat;" “ Black Fox." 
I hough not so common as formerly, the Fisher, as it is here termed, 
is by no means a rare inhabitant of these mountains. 
The name Fisher is somewhat of a misnomer, for these animals 
commonly frequent deep swamps and wooded mountain-sides, away 
Irom the immediate vicinage of water, and are not known to catch 
fish for themselves as do the Mink and Otter. However, they are 
fond of fish and never neglect to devour those that chance to fall in 
their way. They prey chiefly upon hares, squirrels, mice, grouse, 
small birds, and frogs, and are said to eat snakes. They also catch 
and feed upon their own congener, the Marten, and make a practice 
of devouring all that they discover in dead-falls and steel-traps, 
thus proving almost as great a nuisance to the trapper as the Wol- 
verine. It is said to be less objectionable than the Wolverine in one 
particular : i. e. it leaves the traps where it finds them, while the other 
blackleg often lugs them off and hides them. 
Sir John Richardson tells us that “ its favorite food is the Canada 
Porcupine, which it kills by biting in the belly.” This habit, which 
has been questioned, has recently received additional confirmation 
from the pen of Corporal Lot Warfield, who writes of this animal, 
from Weston, Vermont, stating his experience as follows : “ I 
agree with 1 Penobscot’ that they are not plenty, but account for it on 
* Zoology of New York, Part I, Mammals, 1842, p. 28. 
f Quadrupeds of North America, Vol. I, 1846, pp. 207-208. 
