Glens Falls Chronicle Serving the Glens Falls/Lake George region; Warren, Washington and northern Saratoga counties since 1980
Two people were bitten by an animal believed to be a fisher in two incidents today, Nov. 29, at Hudson Pointe Nature Preserve in Queensbury, the Warren County Department of Public Health said.
The State DEC responded to “Hudson Pointe Nature Preserve this afternoon, located an aggressive fisher and killed it. It will be tested for rabies. During the effort to locate it, the fisher bit a person who was involved in the search, who required medical treatment for the bite,” Warren County Director of Public Affairs Don Lehman said later.
Warren County said of the initial incidents, “both people were walking on trails in the preserve when the small animal, possibly a fisher or similar creature, attacked in unprovoked incidents Wednesday morning. One person was walking with dogs.
“Neither person was seriously injured, but at least one required medical treatment.
“One of the incidents was near the beginning of the trail, at an area where it forks and one trail heads downhill toward the Hudson River. No further details were immediately available about the other incident,” the County said.
The New York State DEC says, “The fisher is a large, dark, long-haired member of the weasel family.”
“In New York State, fisher can be found throughout approximately 26,000 square miles of forested habitat within the northern, eastern and southeastern parts of the state. Recently they have begun to return to the southern tier of central and western New York, as some sightings and road kills have been reported from that region,” it said.
