Fisher Cats!!!
You will never know anyone with a story like this. Fishers are seldom seen, and usually just a glance at a distance. I saw mama cross the road in the distance as I approached. Wasn't even sure what it was, but thought possibly. As I got close to where she went in, babies entered the road, following her. I had to stop so I wouldn't hit them. So, naturally, they stopped. So three babies milling around my car. I had to get out to try to shoo them towards their mother. Unfortunately, they decided I was their mother, and came to me. Now I'm trying to herd them toward her. Not that I could see her, but toward where she went in. And keeping alert, in case she felt the need to rip my throat out. She finally came out and grabbed one, as you can see. I continued trying to herd the other two to her. But every time I got them near her, and went back to my car, they followed me back.
I had to stop traffic once. I was fortunate there wasn't more traffic. It is a back road, but one often used as a shortcut.
I finally started walking down a new road on mama's side. Just a dirt, newly-bulldowzed road, with some stones thrown down. Looks like they're clearing some land. I'm calling to the two babies, and they're following me, farther and farther off the road I was parked on. There's a long pile of dirt about 20 feet in, left there by the bulldozer. If I went back to car, they'd follow. And mama wasn't coming near with me still there. So I picked up a baby in each hand, climbed over the pile of dirt, put them down in the brush on the other side, and went back over the dirt pile. The babies were too little to follow me back over.
A car had stopped, and a man and woman got out. Can't blame them, but it was annoying because I want mama to go get them, and now there's more activity. But they went back to their car as I got into mine.
I email with the the Mohonk Preserve Director of Research Emeritus. He knows everything about the area. He called me, and said he's sure mama got them. No concern that, as a couple people already feared, she wouldn't go to them because I had touched them.
I have more pictures, and a couple short videos.
amazing work
