Fisher Cat SoundsFisher cat sounds are scary sounds. Perhaps the better description is harrowing sounds. They sound a bit like a person screaming when the victim of a violent attack. For people interested in cats I would guess that you realize that the fisher cat is not a cat! It is not part of the cat family. It not the fishing cat, which is a small wild cat. Slightly confusingly, the fisher cat actually looks a little bit like the Jaguarundi, which is a small wild cat with a wessel like appearance. The scientific name for the fisher cat is: Martes pennanti. Common names for it are: fisher, pequam, pekan and wejack1. "Fisher" is the most common it seems2.  Difference between fisher cat and fishing cat - classificationThe fisher cat is closely related to the American marten (Martes americana)3. The chart below shows the scientific classifications of the fisher cat and the fishing cat so that you can see the difference in terms of species classification:
The fisher is a general predator and does not specialize in catching and eating fish (seldom eats fish4) as is the case for the fishing cat. There are stories of it preying on domestic animals5, which might include cats (they are said to like house cats6). They can climb despite being a terrestrial animal (it lives mainly on the ground)7. They are said to be noctural and ferocious8. Links to fisher cat soundsJust below are links to two examples of these disconcerting sounds taken from YouTube videos (which I am taking as in the public domain). Clicking on these links using a PC (windows operating system) will usually lead to Windows Media Player opening. The following window should come up: Fisher sounds 1 Fisher sounds 2 Red FOX call (please note that this is a very similar sound) Where do you find the fisher cat?This map shows you: Modified map published under Wikimedia license. Author: Photoist What do the sounds mean?The sound is loud, which implies that it is intended to travel over a long distance. There is no reference to the sound or reasons for the sound on major sites about species. It is almost certainly a mating call and/or a territorial call. Apparently people have seen the fisher scream before and after a kill9.From fisher cat sounds to Cat sounds notes 1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fisher_%28animal%292 http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/41651/0 3 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fisher_%28animal%29 4 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fisher_%28animal%29 5 http://fishercatscreech.com/fisher-cat-sound-and-audio/ 6 http://fishercatscreech.com/fisher-cat-sound-and-audio/ 7 IUCN Red List 8 http://fishercatscreech.com/fisher-cat-sound-and-audio/ 9 http://fishercatscreech.com/fisher-cat-sound-and-audio/ |