Discussion: American mink perhaps? Sim...

American mink perhaps? Similar but smaller. Was it near water?

Interesting question. Not anywhere near open water that I can think of, though there are forested wetlands around everywhere. I had discounted the ideas of otter, weasel, and pine marten, but I hadn't considered mink. I'm still leaning toward fisher, but I'd welcome other opinions.

If you don't want to see a picture of roadkill, don't click here.

I chased a fisher once, maybe 15 years ago. Saw it in a clearing in the woods not too far away, it saw me and ran off, I took off after it, got a couple more decent looks before it was gone for good. A good-sized animal and fast. Obviously much faster than me, but it stopped a couple of times to look back.

A good bit bigger than the one in the photo seems to be. Would the young already be full size by now? Or maybe not?

That is certainly a bigger animal than a long-tailed weasel. I had not seen one before, but I have found two dead ones within the last year. It would be interesting to know what might have killed them and not eaten them. First one was in front of my old barn last October, the second one along the trail out in the woods sometime this spring.

I like how Peter's reaction to seeing a vicious carnivore is diametrically opposed to what a city slicker would do. His reaction to an exotic snake might be different?

Once I see a snake, I want to take a close enough look to be able to tell what kind it is. It's just the initial and usually just momentary panic....

Does look like a fisher. See them occasionally when running near here. Also mink at Crandalls, way up in back..