Tracking Martens, Fishers, and Otters
December 2, 2009 by admin
By Doug Leier
The list of creatures and critters I’ve never witnessed in North Dakota is much longer than I’d prefer. While I’ve watched North Dakota prairie chickens, bighorn sheep and peregrine falcons, I’ve yet to see a whooping crane or a live sage grouse, among others.
Marten sightings are very rare but they do occur like this one from a game camera in 2007
But just because I’ve haven’t seen one doesn’t mean they aren’t out there. And that also holds true for a few relatively unknown and unseen North Dakota furbearers – fishers, martens and otters. For good reason, species like deer, pheasants, geese and ducks generate the lion’s share of interest in discussions about North Dakota’s wildlife, but these under-the-radar inhabitants are becoming part of the unique fabric of North Dakota outdoors
In 2006, researchers from Frostburg State University, Maryland, and Penn State University initiated a project to determine the status and distribution of fishers, American martens and river otters in North Dakota. The study, which will run through winter 2009, is part of the North Dakota Game and Fish Department’s effort to learn more about rare species, and is funded through the State Wildlife Grants program.
Fishers and martens, according to scientists, were considered gone from the state more than a century ago, while river otters were found years ago in all the major streams, but never in great numbers.
The search for all three species is centered mainly in north central and northeastern North Dakota, including the forested Turtle Mountains and Pembina Hills. Fishers and martens are forest creatures and are as much at home in trees as they are on land. River otters, as their name implies, live in aquatic environments, including rivers, streams and tributaries, and we’re seeing something unique happening with these carnivores returning to North Dakota.
Not counting those animals detected by researchers, there have been 41 verified records of fishers in North Dakota since 1976, with 90 percent occurring since 2000. By county, the greatest record of fishers is Grand Forks County, followed by Pembina and Walsh counties. The verified accounts have increased because researchers are searching in earnest for them.
“With the river otters, for example, we are finding a lot more signs of them than we thought we would going in,” Game and Fish biologist Sandy Johnson said.
While the search for otters is concentrated mainly in northeastern North Dakota, Johnson said the Department has records of the animals along the Sheyenne, Souris and Missouri rivers.
To track the locations of fishers and martens, researchers are using track plates and
trail cameras. Basically, the animals are lured into the sites by scent or bait where, it is
hoped, they’ll investigate and walk across sooted aluminum plates and leave black
prints on white paper.
Fishers and martens, it turns out, are very inquisitive creatures, which works in the favor of researchers. American martens are smaller than fishers, and have been reported mainly in the Turtle Mountains. This is somewhat unexpected as martens are typically associated with mature coniferous forests, and the Turtle Mountains are not dominated by conifers and therefore are not considered classic marten habitat.
Fishers for the most part have been located farther east along the northern Red River Valley in the Red, Forest, Tongue and Turtle rivers. Similar to martens, the habitat fishers are using isn’t classic for the species, yet they seem to be making the best of what is out there. Researchers are finding them along river drainages because that’s where much of the forest habitat in North Dakota is found.
Indeed, as the landscape slowly changes, so does the diversity of species that come and go. I for one am hoping these relatively new arrivals stick around awhile, unitl I get a chance to glimpse one in the wild.
Leier is a biologist for the Game and Fish Department. He can be reached by email:
dleier@nd.gov
njsimonson on Thu, 3rd Dec 2009 7:41 am
Great article Doug! I’ve only bumped into one of them, but the experience was one I’ll sure remember. A pine marten was whizzing around the branches of a tree along a grouse trail I was walking, and I couldn’t believe anything of that size could move so fast in a tree. It then saw Guns and me, and stared us down…we backed away slowly…very slowly. Thanks for the read!
niles short on Thu, 3rd Dec 2009 11:04 am
Nice! While shore fishing outside of Minnewaken 3 years ago on a very calm day, a friend and I had the pleasure to watch an otter swim by. I have seen them in Canada numerous times, but was amazed to see one in North Dakota. If I remember right after I looked it up it was, or may have been a river species of the otter family, whereas most of the sightings are more common in eastern Minnesota, but not uncommon further west.
joey reierson on Thu, 3rd Dec 2009 8:06 pm
My family has Hunting land along the forest river by fordvile and we have trailcamera pictures and camera pictures of the a fisher and 3 river otters. I have seen the fisher twice in person and the otters twice. what an awesome sight to see.
duckslayer100 on Sat, 5th Dec 2009 3:04 pm
I had an otter come up and start squaking at me last spring along the Red River just north of Grand Forks. It scared the bejeezus out of me. Came up about 3 feet from shore right in front of one of my poles. He looked POd. He then gradually made his way downstream. I kept waiting for one of my lines to start dancing, but never did. Thank goodness as I don’t know what I’d have done if I would have caught an otter!
david weltz on Sun, 6th Dec 2009 11:30 pm
while bow hunting in early november near bottineau my daughter and wife encountered a marten it climbed up the ladder of my daughters tree stand she tapped it on the nose and it went down and over to my wifes stand and climbed the tree she was in and left her after a little while
Ron Slaathaug on Fri, 19th Mar 2010 10:54 pm
I saw a Fisher 3/16/2010 in my creek behind a beaver dam, located 4 miles northwest of Park River, ND. It did not appear to be afraid, just wondering what I was doing in the area. I was within 30 meters of it. I did not know what is was, until the next day, when I was at the museum in Pembina and there was a stuffed fisher, being the exact same size. The exhibit sign stated they were extinct in the Red River Valley.
Gary Scott on Tue, 30th Mar 2010 1:30 pm
I found this site while trying to decide if I had seen a Martin or a Fisher, I’m sure it”s a fisher. I live 20mi east of Winnipeg. It sat in a tree in my front yard for 2 hours. The tree is 10 yard from any others. I walked to the base of the tree and took pictures which didn’t seem to bother him at all.
Nice website,
regards Gary
J Kruger on Wed, 31st Mar 2010 11:26 am
I love viewing a tracking animals in the wild, great article.
In the past few months I have seen 2 otters on the Red River south of Fargo. A smaller one just before freeze up checking for fish under the banks and a larger one as the the river was coming up in March this year. It’s amazing how they move in the water, powerful. I hope they survived the flood and hopefully they have pups.
JK