Ep. 211 : Fisher Researcher Dr. Scott LaPoint

Recently while tracking a Fisher in Algonquin Park we encountered a large galloping trail that had a long stride length of 106 cm (41¾ in). This was about 28 cm (10 in) longer than what is recorded in Mark Elbroch's “Mammal Tracks and Sign” (Stackpole, 2019). When I finished measuring, I was discussing this extraordinarily long stride with some colleagues. They told me about a National Geographic article, based on a paper about increasing body sizes and range expansion of Fishers in the Northeast. I was immediately interested. When I got home from Algonquin, I looked the paper up. I read the abstract but I had to find out more so I wrote to the author, Dr. Scott LaPoint, to see if he could help answer my questions and be game for an interview. He was in.