Arkie John. You were asking about the FisherCat.

[George-CT]

They are a interesting animal for sure. but not good around farms if you have chickens on the loose. The state of Connecticut introduced them here to control the large turkey population. It seems they are real skilled hunters and agressive. They climb tree's very well and at night will go right up a tree and kill turkeys on the roost. Unfortunately they can't tell the difference between a turkey and a chicken, or maybe they can. Problem is they are good at what they do and if they select your chickens, like one did mine, your either going to have one fat Fishercat and no chickens unless you do something about it....

They have a beautiful pelt on them and I think kind of neat looking. Very big feet/hands on them along with big jaws. There are a lot of them in this area and we here farm people complaining about them a lot..

Here are a few pictures of one here and unfortunately one that was killing my chickens. I find whats left of dead turkeys around here quite often as they roost close by here. If they are keeping the turkeys numbers down, its hard to tell in the count of the flocks I see here in my yard.

George-CT

 

[david(tx)]

less people are hunting?is your 1-ton a diesel?

 

[George-CT]

but I also see a lot of young ones born each year. We have to stop on the driveway as different flocks cross or are flopping around in the dirt. For sure, not enough people are hunting them or not getting to many if they do. I'd say that being that Connecticut is also a lot of private land, that they get in these tracks of land and are really pretty safe. they have a shotgun season, bow season, and spring and fall season. If you own the land as a land owner you get a 2 month season.

Yes, the truck is a 1994 Ford F-350 1 ton. It has the International 7.3 with Turbo Navestar engine coupled to a 5 speed stick. We use it to pull the horse trailer and 5th wheel. Its a 94 with 46,000 on it. Just about broken in. No complaints with it at all except the dually is worthless in the snow. To much floatation I think. No weight back there.... But excellent ride with the duals, really stable ride in the corners. With the frost up this way, also less chuck holes to fall into in the spring on the roads here from frost heave. Decent on fuel. We honest 18 mpg empty, and 12 to 13 towing horse or the 5th wheel. Horses its weight, 5th wheel its bucking winds. A lot of our friends have the new Fords with the 6.0 but have not been to happy with them. seem to be problems with 4x4 spindles and other stuff.
A lot of have the Dodges with the Cummings. There normal statement, I love my Cummings diesel, to bad there is a Dodge wrapped around it. There grips seem to be lousey, transmissions. Most have put in at least 2 of them or electrical. The electrical surprises me as there is not much electrical on a diesel. Turn it over with the started and the electrical is pretty much finished until you turn the fuel off.
My daughter Heidi has the Dodge. she opted for the 6 speed stick and hers has been pretty trouble free. Pretty hard to over heat a stick shift on these hills up north here, but not so with automatics. A few others have the Duramax engines in GMC or Chevy and they like them.

I see a lot of the kids here getting the diesel trucks now. They are easy get a lot of power out of, just pricey. They have become the new muscle cars in this area. The weak link seems to be the trannys. More HP, more Torque with the same tranny don't cut it normally.

Here is a better picture of it...

George-Ct

 

[Wayne in BC]

In that last pic, does it want its belly scratched?
I would be eating lots of Turkey if i had them around like that

 

[George-CT]

of him, but not sure how people would feel about it. I have some really nice close ups of the animal but I know some get upset. So I went with the belly scratch. Looks like he is playing. Big male. The State of Ct has a real good write up on them.......They state out and area and clean it out, then move on. They make a heck of a scream also....

Geo

 

[Micheal_R]

Great series of shots. I tell you, I would welcome a selection of turkeys to play with!!

fair winds

Mikie

 

[VT Dave]

n/t

 

[George-CT]

http://www.wtnh.com/global/story.asp?s=7207006


http://www.ct.gov/dEP/cwp/view.asp?a=2723&q=326004&depNav_GID=1655

http://www.ourbetternature.org/fisher.htm


Interesting animal for sure. I've seen what they can do to a flock of turkeys at night while they sleep. Not pretty at all.

Geo-CT

 

[George-CT]

one at the chicken coup and he had one, at night, and the rest were hollering. As I came down with the lights on, he stood his ground. He was not leaving or giving the chicken up. Bad move on his part. Well, at least he died on a full stomach. He had pulled the edge of the door back and got in. If I was still trapping like I used to long time ago, I'm thinking you could do pretty well at it over the course of a year. Tell you how long ago I used to trap. Sears used to buy them up in the spring time....

Geo

 

[Sunny]

if he is a killer, then you do what your gotta do!

 

[George-CT]

I took that shot to show the size of his feet.

 

[Sunny]

n/t

 

[Micheal_R]

Been a good vehicle so far.. When I was researching it out, there were the extra horsepwer chips you could put in. However, I was also told by a mechanic, that with the extra hp, your tranny will die . They are just not made for that extra HP.

So we went with the standard hp and no chip... been good so far.

Calm seas

Mikie

 

[david(tx)]

young guys around here have 1-ton duallys with performance mufflers,you can here them coming.i think my brother-in-law had a 96',he has a newer one now,like you he pulls there RV,he also has a jeep,a jeep cherokee,and a new ranger,my sister made him sell a couple of things.

i like turkey meat but there are few wild turkeys here,i like bird meat better then beef,its more consistant to me.

 

[Arkie John]

Our turkey population so down a bit these days. I sure wish they were more plentiful. They are a blast to stick with a bow...and they ALWAYS eat real good.

aj

 

[Arkie John]

So, do you feed those birds or do they just naturally come up and invade your yard????

They are wild as they can be down here and usually you can't get within a country mile of one of 'em.

Great photos, George. It's funny. You photograph them from your kitchen window and I have to spend hours upon hours in a Doublebull blind in the bitter cold to get decent shot of them.

Pretty interesting stuff. Kinda looks like a cross betwen a bobcat and a racoon. Thanks again!

aj

 

[Rob/Windsor Ont.]

I've never seen an animal like that before George ! That's more than interesting !! What a great environment to live around..........kind of reminds me of Royal's place up in Roscommon ! Those are great pics George !