Fisher Artificial Reproductive Den Box Project

Fisher Artificial Reproductive Den Box Project

55 artificial den boxes were designed, constructed, installed, and monitored for fisher use in the Central Interior of BC. Monitoring included hair-snagging and video monitoring. Fishers used a small proportion of the structures for reproductive purposes (natal and maternal dens) and some den boxes were reused both within and between years. In the 4th year of the project, we video recorded an instance of infanticide at one den box. A male fisher was documented with a wildlife camera chewing the entrance open sufficiently to enter the box and kill two kits. The design was subsequently upgraded to help prevent adult males from entering and no infanticide events were documented in the final year of the project.