Fisher, Not Seen In Ohio’s Cuyahoga County For Over 100 Years, Caught On Video

We’ve got some history made in Ohio!

A trail camera in Cleveland Metroparks captured a fisher — a sleek, weasel-like mammal — marking the first confirmed sighting in Cuyahoga County in more than 100 years, according to park officials.

The animal was recorded earlier in 2025, and it’s the first time since the 1800s it’s been seen in the county, per Cleveland Metroparks.

The fisher, a native mammal to Ohio, typically inhabits the northern regions of the state. (RELATED: Man Nearly Gets Mauled By Black Bear After He Touches Him In Incredibly Ignorant Moment)

In the footage, the animal is seen scurrying past the camera, looking directly at it at one point.

Officials from the park called the finding “tremendously exciting,” noting that the fisher’s comeback highlights the effect and importance of conservation over the long-term and efforts to restore habitats in forests, waterways and wetlands.

Cleveland Metroparks described this as a significant discovery, noting that the Ohio Department of Natural Resources has fishers listed as a species of special interest. The fisher disappeared from the majority of Ohio by the mid-19th century because of unregulated trapping and habitat loss.

WATCH:

CHECK IT OUT👀: Trail camera spotted the first confirmed sighting of a fisher in Cuyahoga County, Ohio since the 1800s, according to Cleveland Metroparks. Park officials are describing the discovery as ‘tremendously exciting.’ pic.twitter.com/8eXvZe4Nov

— FOX Weather (@foxweather) December 17, 2025

I did some research to find out more about why exactly the fisher hasn’t been spotted in Cuyahoga County since the mid-1800s, and I came across this from the Akron Beacon Journal.

“Fishers disappeared from Ohio by the mid-1800s, as settlers cleared their habitat and hunted them to near-extinction, according to Farm and Dairy. Since then, there have been more than 40 confirmed fisher sightings across several northeast Ohio counties, according to ODNR. Two-thirds of those — about 26 sightings — happened in the past three years.”

Pretty much what I expected, but kudos to the fisher for pushing through and not becoming extinct.