DANVERS - Will Steadman thinks he knows what weasel-like animal has been frightening Peabody residents. It is a fisher cat, he said, just like the one that turned up at 7 a.m. Valentine's Day in his backyard.
"I'm sure that's the same thing they're seeing in Peabody," he said of the fisher cat, which is more properly called a fisher.
Steadman's camera was close at hand, so he was able to take several pictures of the animal, which has a reputation for being mean.
A veterinarian who lives down the street couldn't believe the sighting, either. It was a first for Steadman, who saw five deer in his backyard near College Pond and St. John's Prep one day last week.
"I've been in the house 34 years now," he said.
Fishers can reach 16 pounds and 3 feet in length, according to Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife. Once extinct in the state, the fisher population has boomed since the 1960s. Fishers have sharp claws and look like other members of the weasel family. In winter, they are active during the day but favor the dawn and dusk in the summer, according to MassWildlife.
Anthony Road residents in Peabody worried the animal they saw Wednesday could be a wolverine, last seen in Massachusetts in 1835.
While Steadman was picking up his fisher photos from a drugstore, a woman saw the pictures and said she sees fishers near her home in Georgetown.
The animal favors the deep woods. However, in 2005 a Boston newspaper reported that fishers were killing pet cats in suburban neighborhoods. MassWildlife cautions residents to remove bird food and trash, keep pets inside and urge neighbors to follow the same guidelines.
"I'm sure that's the same thing they're seeing in Peabody," he said of the fisher cat, which is more properly called a fisher.
Steadman's camera was close at hand, so he was able to take several pictures of the animal, which has a reputation for being mean.
A veterinarian who lives down the street couldn't believe the sighting, either. It was a first for Steadman, who saw five deer in his backyard near College Pond and St. John's Prep one day last week.
"I've been in the house 34 years now," he said.
Fishers can reach 16 pounds and 3 feet in length, according to Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife. Once extinct in the state, the fisher population has boomed since the 1960s. Fishers have sharp claws and look like other members of the weasel family. In winter, they are active during the day but favor the dawn and dusk in the summer, according to MassWildlife.
Anthony Road residents in Peabody worried the animal they saw Wednesday could be a wolverine, last seen in Massachusetts in 1835.
While Steadman was picking up his fisher photos from a drugstore, a woman saw the pictures and said she sees fishers near her home in Georgetown.
The animal favors the deep woods. However, in 2005 a Boston newspaper reported that fishers were killing pet cats in suburban neighborhoods. MassWildlife cautions residents to remove bird food and trash, keep pets inside and urge neighbors to follow the same guidelines.
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