squirrels vanished this winter

[cavey]

They are a woods animal….I believe they were introduced into northern Wisconsin by our WI DNR along with pine martins to control the porcupine population which was damaging timber. They out compete the pine martins which I believe tended to like more remote areas (which are harder and harder to find) where as the fisher as adapted better to human populations… they are pretty reclusive but highly mobile hunter’s ... mini wolverines. They have dramatically expanded southward… we started seeing them on game cams and started seeing the turkey populations going down fast… common to see piles of feathers around roosting sights. I believe they are good at taking the hens off the roost at night… its pretty sad to see what they have done to the turkey numbers, not many people hunt squirrels anymore but they can run them down even up in the trees. Ive seen them from my tree stand and watched them hunt… they cover a lot of ground lopping, climbing and zig zagging around, it was pretty cool to watch. We are a mixed ag/wood land area fairly well populated… Im sure they would be at home in your area too munching on squirrels.


Found this after posting above:
WI DNR Fisher release
https://www.nrs.fs.fed.us/pubs/gtr/gtr_nrs5.pdf

 

[cavey]

ps you can apply for a fisher tag as one option... or as it is on your own land, I believe if they are causing "damage" - "you" can trap them which by saying "you"; you can have a trapper come in and set traps for "you" on your behalf for damage control or DIY. (maybe or maybe not double check that to make sure of the legality) They are easy to trap... just look up fisher pole trap sets.... and they make a nice pelt.

 

[JFK52]

Another great move by the WI DNR like the reintroduction of wolves to Northern Wisconsin. The lady who cuts my hair was raised and has family hunting land North of Rhinelander. We talk about deer hunting while I get my cut. She said that over the past few years her family did not even see any deer during WI gun season daylight hours. She directly attributed this fact due to the presence of wolf packs. Not just rumors of them, but actual pictures of wolves on game cameras. I do believe that a lot of Northern WI counties have not had an antlerless deer quota for several years. My land is in southern Portage county and wolves have been spotted in the area. I am sure that fishers are expanding there range also. I will definitely look into trapping fishers.
My acronym for the WI "DNR" is DO NOTHING RIGHT.

 

[sandbur]

Fishers also probably moved into Wis from Minnesota. I did not realize they were hard on turkeys , but that is one big plus in my view.


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[ruskbucks]

Oh, I see maybe one squirrel once a week but it does not even come to the feeders. "Cavey" what kind of habitat do fishers prefer? One of my friends suggested that it could be fishers or martens. I have personally never seen one of these critters and will have to go online to see a picture of one. Are they native to this area or is this another great idea of the DNR to "reintroduce a species" like they did with wolves? Come to think of it, I also had turkeys that came my feeders for the corn and have not seen either a turkey or their tracks this winter.
Can fishers be caught or shot?

We do have martens in WI but they are only in a small area up around Clam Lake, the DNR has been working on trying to get them reestablished. The fishers are native here but I think the DNR has been trapping them and moving them around to get them established in different areas. They are really cool creatures. They have the ability to climb right up a tree after a squirrel. I have seen them a few times on my land. Nobody is allowed to shoot a fisher, but if you trap, you can apply for a tag. It usually takes 1-3 years to get one. I have had noticed the same with the squirrels on my land. When I first got the land it was absolutely full of red squirrels. Then it seemed like there was just grey and blacks. Now it seems it is a little bit of both, but not a lot of either. I have a lot of predators around and not much for small game except for grouse. I don't know if they are the cause of the decline in squirrels or it is something else.

 

[j-bird]

I looked up from the kitchen sink at the squirrel box and saw this yesterday.....it was nice here so they decided to come and and stretch some and enjoy the sunshine. Spent most of the day up on the roof of the box in the sunshine! The wife swears it's one of the two we released but I have no idea if it is or not....

 

[bwoods11]

Lack of squirrels, any public land near you, and without sounding racist (but just a fact) Hmong hunters hit the squirrels hard. The MN DNR actually had to do a study on why most of the squirrels were gone on public land near the metro--no kidding aside?

 

[Telemark]

Fishers.... We had squirrels and turkeys once, now we have fishers... They have just smashed the turkey population around here... and for awhile the only squirrels I saw were a few reds

Can you kill them?

 

[cavey]

I had a fisher tag for this past year just did not have the time to go trapping... I have not cut a fisher track yet this winter in the snow, no food no fishers...they move on; nothing left for turkeys really to speak of this winter; a small group of Toms is about it ( I believe their a little harder to take off the roost). but yes ultimately one can kill them

 

[Telemark]

Man that's a bummer. But the desireable animals should come back. Now at least you can be prepared for when the fishers return.

Do you have boxes and traps?

 

[Bill]

Lack of squirrels, any public land near you, and without sounding racist (but just a fact) Hmong hunters hit the squirrels hard. The MN DNR actually had to do a study on why most of the squirrels were gone on public land near the metro--no kidding aside?

You know what Walt Kawalski said. "Man, them Hmong women are like badgers."

 

[Telemark]

Fishers also probably moved into Wis from Minnesota. I did not realize they were hard on turkeys , but that is one big plus in my view.


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You don't like turkeys?

 

[sandbur]

Fishers also probably moved into Wis from Minnesota. I did not realize they were hard on turkeys , but that is one big plus in my view.


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You don't like turkeys?

I am not a turkey fan . When I see them in the woods I can not see a deer. I feel deer are afraid of the noise if they can’t see the turkeys. I hunt thick cover.

Turkeys in my foodplot and pheasants can’t feed.
I also wonder what turkeys do to the grouse population.
I view turkeys an an invasive species where I live.


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[Telemark]

Can I come shoot your turkeys?

By the way, I reckon fishers kill grouse and pheasants.

 

[sandbur]

Can I come shoot your turkeys?

By the way, I reckon fishers kill grouse and pheasants.

No turkeys here this winter!


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[Kooch]

I wonder how long it'll take for the turkeys to get up to Orr MN? None up there yet. I hope they don't make it. I'd rather see my pet grouse or two than a hundred turkey.

 

[Telemark]

It's almost like people forget turkeys are delicious.

 

[Kooch]

Well. I'll hunt turkey down here in Southern MN. If they are tough on grouse, I'd like to keep them away from my place up North.

 

[Telemark]

Well. I'll hunt turkey down here in Southern MN. If they are tough on grouse, I'd like to keep them away from my place up North.

Shoot them and send them to me?

 

[sandbur]

Well. I'll hunt turkey down here in Southern MN. If they are tough on grouse, I'd like to keep them away from my place up North.

Just rumors on the partridge thing. It does seem like the peak population s are not as high as they used to be.

I have wondered if West Nile virus cut partridge populations.


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