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.
