"Fishers (Martes pennanti) in the mountains of California’s Sierra Nevada occur at the southwestern margin of their distribution and inhabit different forest types with different potential prey than elsewhere in their range. Two typical fisher prey, the snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus) and the porcupine (Erethizon dorsatum), are absent from our Sierra Nevada study area. We characterized the diet of fishers in the southern Sierra Nevada by analyzing the content of 201 feces…" "The fisher is reputed to be a habitat specialist in the late-seral mixed conifer-deciduous forests of the western United States. Perhaps it is for this reason that our data depict the species as a dietary generalist, for whom it may be necessary to forage on many of the animal, plant, and fungal species that occur in and near mature coniferous habitat." P.961

"Historically it occurred from the northern Atlantic coast through the Appalachian Mountains, across the upper Midwest and southern Canada and south into the western mountains." P. 961

"…understanding the diet of fishers in the southern Sierra Nevada has acute conservation importance because this population is isolated by >400 km from the nearest population to the north." "Like many other carnivores, fishers probably exploit foods that are temporally ephemeral, spatially patchy, and difficult to capture and subdue. Fishers switch prey in response to availability." "This information will help define the range of dietary plasticity in fishers and also will inform us of the prey species and the habitat that may be necessary to conserve populations of fishers in California." P. 962

"Most food remains were mammalian but a substantial quantity came from other terrestrial vertebrate classes, with the exception of the Amphibia. No fish scales or bones were discovered in our sample." "The fact that no single family of animal or plant group was identified in more than ca. 22% of feces attested to the diversity of the annual diet. Seasonal variation among food groups was no profound." P. 964

"…five foods were reported repeatedly as important components of the diets of fishers…snowshoe hares, porcupines, deer, passerine birds, and vegetation." P. 965