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Mail Tribune / Drew Fleming Wildlife biologist Keith Aubry measures and tags an orphaned fisher at Wildlife Images. The fisher and a sibling on Wednesday will be the first juveniles to be rehabilitated and released into the wild without their mother. Slim chances for survival Orphaned fishers will be released back into the wild By MARK FREEMAN MERLIN - Two orphaned fisher kits are about to embark on an unprecedented experiment, the results of which may remain a mystery. The fishers, whose mother was shot and killed illegally last spring in the Rogue River National Forest, will be released Wednesday back into the woods near Butte Falls after nearly five months of rearing at a local animal-rehab center. Researchers believe the two fishers likely lack the tools needed for survival and originally recommended they be shipped to a zoo for a lifetime as props for teaching people about the rare and elusive weasel-like critters. But biologists opted instead to give this brother and sister combo one chance at living real fishers' lives, opting to release the kits back into their old environs despite their long odds at survival. "If they learn how to be fishers and survive until next spring, I think they pretty much got it made," says Simon Wray, an Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist in Central Point. "The reality is, their chances just aren't that good. But we'll cross our fingers, release them and wish them well." Never before have orphaned fishers been plucked from the wild at such a young age, then reared in captivity without their mothers and released, says Keith Aubry, a fisher expert from Olympia, Wash., who has studied the Rogue River National Forest fishers since 1995. The Fisher File Name: Martes pennanti, a cousin of weasels and pine martens. Status: Petitioned for endangered status under the federal Endangered Species Act. Listed as a state sensitive species in Oregon. Characteristics: Up to 2 feet long and 20 pounds, with males larger than females. Fur ranges from medium to dark brown, with gold to silver on the head and shoulders, black legs and tail. They may also have a cream chest patch. All have five toes on their feet, and their claws are retractable. Diet: Predators that hunt alone, fishers eat mice, squirrels, hares, birds and shrews. They are the only animals known to prey consistently on porcupines. Behavior: Agile and speedy tree climbers, they rarely travel together and communicate by leaving scent markings. Fishers are rarely seen by humans, and their longevity in the wild is unknown. Local population: Forest Service researchers estimate 50 to 100 animals, mostly in high-elevation, mixed-conifer forest stands around Prospect and Butte Falls. Source: University of Michigan Museum of Zoology "It's unknown whether they'll have the skills they need to become predators and not prey," Aubry says. "They may get nabbed by a great horned owl the first day out or live a few months, we don't know." Whether the upcoming release eventually becomes a wildlife success story or a failure with good intentions may only be half-answered - at best. Only the female fisher, which is about full-grown, is fitted with a radio collar that will allow biologists to monitor her survival and track her whereabouts. The male, which was not yet full grown, was not fitted with a collar because it could later strangle him if it became too tight, Wray says. The fishers' saga started in May, when the kits were about 8 weeks old. Their mother, a radio-collared subject that was part of Aubry's study through the Forest Service's Pacific Northwest Research Station, was found shot dead near her natal den - a cavity carved 35 feet up a white fir tree where the two offspring were living. Aubry's research crews rescued the kits about two days after they were orphaned and rushed them to Wildlife Images Rehab Center in Merlin. While there, the fishers were kept in an 8-by-8-foot compound with nearly no human interaction, Wildlife Images Director David Siddon says. The animals have since shown an ability to kill mice and poultry chicks stashed in their compound, leading Siddon to believe they have a fine chance of life as wild fishers. "They know how to hunt, and they know how to forage for food," Siddon says. "It seems like their instincts are completely intact, so I think their chances are very good. "I can't think of anything we could have done that would have given them better chances in the wild," Siddon says. And even a slim chance is considered worth the risk, Wray says. "The whole idea of wildlife rehabilitation is to get them back in the wild if there's any chance of survival," Wray says. "So we ought to try." Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 776-4470, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.