Surprised hunter discovers competing predators playing together in Pennsylvania woods

A hunter sitting quietly in a deer stand in northeast Pennsylvania saw something many would consider impossible: A fox and a fisher playing tag.

Fishers can be vicious and foxes aren’t known for being cuddly, yet video recorded by Rebecca Rowe shows the competing predators frolicking like Disney characters.

It went on for 15 minutes, Rowe says, including moments when the fisher sat and waited for the fox to catch up. The fisher is also seen repeatedly jumping out of trees to the ground after the fox refused to climb upafter it.

The video has been viewed more than 930,000 times since Nov. 30 and shared more than 11,000 times.

“I was a little surprised when I saw the fox chasing the fisher. I thought it would be the other way around,” Rowe told McClatchy News.

“It almost seemed as if the fisher was just teasing the fox. The fisher would come down the trees to the point where the fox could touch its tail and then it would be off to another tree or safe spot. I thought for sure that at some point the fisher would make its move to attack, but it never happened.”

Fishers are “a mid-sized carnivore” (about 15 pounds) in the weasel family, according to the Pennsylvania Game Commission. Their unlikely prey includes porcupines, the state says, and “there is evidence of fisher predation on white-tailed deer.”

National Geographic noted in a 2014 article that their cantankerous disposition is like that of a wolverine.

“I videoed for about 5 to 6 minutes, but they were running around close to my stand for probably about 15 minutes. Eventually the fox just walked away,” Rowe said. “I knew when the whole scenario played out that is was a once in a lifetime experience.”

The interaction happened Nov. 28 on property in northeast Pennsylvania’s Oregon Township, about 10 miles from the New York border, the retired biology teacher said.

More than 1,100 people have commented on her video, including a few debating if it was a fisher or a pine marten. But New Hampshire state wildlife officials shared the video and confirmed it was a fisher.

“The fisher is trying to get the fox tired so he can kill it. They are smart little demons,” Morgan Klackle posted.

“He was taunting the poor fox,” Tiffany Overall said.

“Real cat and mouse chase... loved it,” Julie Novelli Hoisington wrote.

This story was originally published December 14, 2020 at 8:49 AM with the headline "Surprised hunter discovers competing predators playing together in Pennsylvania woods."