What to do when a fisher attacks a small mammal...

In broad daylight, a citizen recently caught on video a fisher attacking a groundhog at the Centre écologique Fernand-Seguin in Châteauguay. Dominic Gendron, Director of Land Protection and Development for Héritage Saint-Bernard, assures us that this is a "normal" phenomenon, but warns against intervening in this type of situation.      

Translation Amanda Bennett

"Fishers are active at dusk, late in the day or early in the day, but it can also be active all day long," he explained. At this time of year, there are baby fishers and that means they require more food."

"The best thing is not to intervene or even approach so that the fisher can do what it has to do," he adds. If the human approaches or intervenes, it will attempt to eat the groundhog as quickly as possible. It may run away and the groundhog may be hurt and suffer for a long time before the fisher comes back."

Concerned for the animals, the citizen approached the fisher to keep it away from the groundhog and save it.

When informed of the situation, Mario Montpetit, Service Manager at <@Ri>Héritage Saint-Bernard<@$p>, could only reassure the citizen that "nature must be left to its own devices".

"Of course it's tough to watch, but we have to explain that it is a normal, natural thing," he concluded.