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<p>DALLAS &#8212; Matt Lovallo was asked a question that everyone know would come up.</p><p>During Wednesday&#8217;s Pennsylvania Game Commission presentation on the fisher at the agency&#8217;s Northeast Region Office, Lovallo, who is the PGC&#8217;s furbearer biologist, spoke about the effectiveness as a top predator.</p><p>He said the fisher&#8217;s agility in climbing trees aids in preying on nesting birds and squirrels. Lovallo showed a video clip of a fisher taking down a fawn - although he said such occurrences are rare, and cited a study that showed deer and rabbits were among the top five species found when stomach contents of fishers were examined.</p><p>At the end of the night, Lovallo&#8217;s talk led to an obvious question from those in attendance: Why did the Game Commission re-introduce such an efficient predator in Pennsylvania?</p><p>&#8220;The main reason for reintroducing them is to restore a species that we lost,&#8221; Lovallo said.</p><p>Since they were re-introduced in Pennsylvania in 1990s, the fisher population and its range are both increasing. The boom has resulted in more fisher sightings across the state, and more questions.</p><p>&#8220;People are seeing them with increased frequency and it&#8217;s a species that generates a lot of interest,&#8221; Lovallo said. &#8220;My computer is full of photos sent in by people who are seeing them in their backyards.&#8221;</p><p>The fisher is native to Pennsylvania but was extirpated in the early 1900s. Loss of habitat through widespread timbering eliminated the fisher&#8217;s preferred &#8220;big woods&#8221; habitat and led to the population decline, Lovallo said.</p><p>Over the last few decades re-introduction attempts in several northeastern states have sparked the return of the fisher. Pennsylvania&#8217;s population is the result of an expansion from West Virginia and the 190 that were trapped from New Hampshire and released in the state in the 1990s.</p><p>While it was believed that fishers would inhabit large, unbroken tracts of mature forest, they have bucked that trend and can now be found in suburban areas as well.</p><p>&#8220;The fisher has really broken all the rules as far as where they were re-introduced and where they&#8217;ll inhabit,&#8221; Lovallo said. &#8220;In Rhode Island, the number one wildlife complaint is the fisher in suburban areas. In Pennsylvania we have a thriving fisher population in the suburbs south of Harrisburg.&#8221;</p><p>While fisher numbers are on the rise, so to are the questions being raised by those who see them.</p><p>Dallas residents Harry and Deb Cooper spotted their first fisher two years ago in their backyard near the Dallas High School.</p><p>&#8220;I didn&#8217;t know what it was, so I typed in the details of what I saw online and the fisher came up,&#8221; Deb Cooper said. &#8220;I never heard of a fisher before.&#8221;</p><p>She said Lovallo&#8217;s presentation answered a lot of her questions about the fisher, but &#8220;I&#8217;m still nervous about it. We have small dogs,&#8221; Cooper said.</p><p>Lovallo delved into many of the misconceptions about the fisher, mainly those surrounding its veracity as a predator.</p><p>Topping the list is the fisher&#8217;s unique ability to prey on porcupines.</p><p>&#8220;I think the amount (of porcupines) consumed by fishers has been exaggerated,&#8221; Lovallo said. &#8220;According to diet studies, they consume them but aren&#8217;t dependent on them.&#8221;</p><p>How about the impact the fisher population has on small game and turkeys?</p><p>&#8220;This is the most common question we get. Birds are a small component. We just don&#8217;t see turkey parts in the stomach content studies. If fishers were taking turkeys out of the trees, we&#8217;d see it in the stomach contents,&#8221; Lovallo said.</p><p>Lovallo did refer to a studies in other states with rising fishing populations that show an impact on other species. In the midwest, raccoon populations dropped in areas where fisher numbers rose, Lovallo said. And in Michigan, a study area showed that 80 percent of goshawk nestlings were preyed upon by fishers.</p><p>The hike in fisher numbers has led to more opportunities for trappers in Pennsylvania, with more coming this season. The PGC sells fisher trapping permits that allow for a trapper to harvest one of the furbearers. In past years the fisher season spanned six days, but this year the Game Commission doubled it to 12 days - from Dec. 18 to Dec. 28, in the 13 Wildlife Management Units where the season takes place.</p><p>Lovallo said the rise in fisher numbers is attributable to the species&#8217; continued expansion into new habitats. Doubling the season to 12 days is a significant change, he said, and the agency may look at more opportunities for trappers if fisher numbers continue to rise.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m expecting an increase in participation and harvest this year,&#8221; Lovallo said. &#8220;This is going to be a pivotal year in the direction of our fisher program.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/web1_Fisher.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">The Game Commission said fishers &#8212; like this one seen in Huntington Township &#8212; have seen their populations rise in the state. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/web1_Fisher.jpg</photo0><caption0>The Game Commission said fishers &#8212; like this one seen in Huntington Township &#8212; have seen their populations rise in the state. </caption0><photoCredit0>Nick Wagner file photo | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Tom Venesky</p><p>tvenesky@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p>Population status of three forest predators in Pennsylvania, per furbearer biologist Matt Lovallo:</p><p><strong>Fisher: </strong>significantly increasing</p><p><strong>Coyote:</strong> slowly increasing</p><p><strong>Bobcat:</strong> stable</p></factboxMeta></div>

PGC program reflects rising interest in fishers