Following the Fisher

January 24, 2026

Today I learned that fishers eat not only meat, but seeds and fruits as well.

I didn’t mind when I thought fishers were strictly carnivores. Over time, the paradoxes become easier to hold. I wish for the fisher’s belly to be full, and I cheer for the rabbit’s escape. Nature defies simple answers. It redefines “wild” to encompass both struggle and tenderness. Wild pups play at the kill, wild birds tend the nest. Some species mate for life… except when they don’t. Songs are sung for both courtship and warning.

I followed a large mustelid’s tracks today, a fisher I think. Its walking pawprints left paisley curlicues in the snow. Then it began to lope. 2x2, angled paws. I find scat, and several ruddy seeds are clearly visible. It eats what it can find. In these frigid days, the animal I am tracking is likely hungry.

Eventually, its tracks wind through thickening brush. Branches begin to snag my coat, a sharp reminder the animal I’m following is much closer to the earth than I am. At 5’10”, with my gangly limbs, I might as well be walking on another planet. Prickly ash grabs my arms, while the fisher slips and slinks along the smooth snowy ground.

The fisher has led me to my favourite part of the woods — the part I never walk in. Though several neighbours have offered to “clean it up” for us, it is perfect as it is. The prickly ash is welcome — in summer, its vibrant leaves will be a nursery for giant swallowtails. Butterflies who float yellow and black through our garden. The snags hold the baby woodpeckers in spring. This is where the soft-footed rabbits are most active in winter, and where the red squirrels rest. This is a rich place.

When I catch the trail again on the other side, something has changed. It is wider now, the prints to one side, a new shape dragging along beside them. This fisher has found its feast.

Between where I started following the story, and when I walked away, something happened. Some little opportunity changed everything. Animals are so good at this. This persevering. They know their story is still being written. They know that in a big, complex, complicated world, the one thing that keeps coming is change. They know to keep going.