Forrest was acquired May 21, 1996 . 

Forrest was born in captivity and when we found him he was living in a parrot cage with his mother and two siblings, in someone’s backyard.  It is illegal to keep native wildlife in captivity without a government-issued license.  We hand-raised Forrest from 6 weeks old and he has helped us to teach thousands of people about these elusive and misunderstood creatures.

Fisher (Martes Pennanti)

Dining and Dwelling

Fishers avoid open areas and they prefer the canopy of a continuous forest, in the vicinity of watercourses.  This diurnal (active in daytime) weasel is a voracious hunter which will kill and eat anything it can overpower.  It's diet mostly consists of snowshoe hare and small mammals, however the fisher may also eat birds, snakes, fish, insects, carrion, fruits, berries and seeds.  It is best known for it's ability kill and eat porcupine.

Life and Death

Man is the major predator of the fisher, possibly the wolf, but a fisher would probably be too agile.  Fishers are sexually dimorphic, males being twice the size of females.  Males can breed at the age of 2, while females are able to breed at one year of age.  Mating, of these normally solitary animals,  takes place in early spring and after 338-358 days the kits(usually three) are born.  The young stay with their mother 3 or 4 months and then disperse.

That's Amazing

• There has been a documented case of a fisher killing a whitetail deer.
•  Fishers do not fish. Some believe their name may have come from the fact that they resemble the otter or possibly came from the fishers ability to 'fish' bait out of fur-trappers traps.
•  The male fisher can reach the size of a female wolverine (one of the closest relatives of the fisher).
• Forrest is a very large fisher, normally males would reach a weight of no more than 5.4 kg (12 lbs), Forrest is 8.6 kg (19 lbs).