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Since 2018, Katerina Gillis has placed over 200 game cameras on private and public properties in Connecticut, including Deer Pond Farm in Sherman.

Her photographic target is the fisher — a large weasel sometimes mistakenly called a fisher cat (mistakenly because it doesn’t fish and it’s not a cat).

Katerina is a wildlife conservation and biology student at Central Connecticut State University. In the warm weather months, she works as the IBA Coastal Ranger at Connecticut Audubon’s Milford Point Coastal Center, where she leads the organization’s efforts to protect nesting Piping Plovers, terns, and American Oystercatchers.

She’s also a student, and the game camera work is part of her master’s thesis project on the distribution of fishers in the state.

Fishers range through much of North America. They were abundant in Connecticut until the 19th century, when logging and trapping all but eliminated them. They eventually re-established themselves in the northeast part of the state and were re-introduced into the northwest by the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.

Have they found their way down the highlands to Sherman? It’s not a spoiler to say Katerina found not just fisher but other mammals at Deer Pond Farm as well.

The details and her photos offer a rare look at animal nightlife in the thousand-foot hills of western Connecticut.

She says fishers require specialized habitat and that if you think you hear fishers screaming at night, you’re probably wrong.

“I’m surprised at how often people think that they have fisher in their backyard just based off of vocalizations when in reality its red foxes and raccoons that vocalize,” she says.

You’re invited to join us on Zoom for Katerina’s free presentation, “Distribution & Detection of Fisher in Connecticut: Deer Pond Farm Findings,” on April 1, 2021, 7 p.m.

Thursday, April 22, 7 p.m. – 8 p.m.
Fee: Free program, suggested $10 donation appreciated
Instructor: Jim Arrigoni
Registration: click here.

As the Connecticut Audubon Society enters its fifth year of managing Deer Pond Farm, we have completed several projects to benefit birds and other biodiversity. In this webinar, we’ll describe: strategic plantings, including the rationale for selecting particular species for food or cover; invasive species management, including techniques used for various species; and providing nest boxes and other structures for cavity-nesting birds. Positive steps you can take at home will also be shared, as well as resources for additional information.