. The Canadian field-naturalist. Natural history. 362 The Canadian Field-Naturalist Vol. Ill. 45° — — 46 45 Figure 1. Location of Gatineau Park in southern Quebec. Gatineau Park since no sign of poor body condition or starvation was observed. Body mass in late autumn-early winter averaged kg for males (n = 13) and kg (n = 15) for females, which were among the highest values reported for this species (Powell 1993). Observed home range sizes in Gatineau Park were close to values predicted by the general equation A = 170M103 linking body mass (M) and home ranges (A) in carnivores (Lindste
. The Canadian field-naturalist. Natural history. 362 The Canadian Field-Naturalist Vol. Ill. 45° — — 46 45 Figure 1. Location of Gatineau Park in southern Quebec. Gatineau Park since no sign of poor body condition or starvation was observed. Body mass in late autumn-early winter averaged kg for males (n = 13) and kg (n = 15) for females, which were among the highest values reported for this species (Powell 1993). Observed home range sizes in Gatineau Park were close to values predicted by the general equation A = 170M103 linking body mass (M) and home ranges (A) in carnivores (Lindstedt et al. 1986). Home ranges of Fishers in other studies were consistently larger than those predicted on the basis of body size (Buskirk 1992). In addition to food availability, we believe that spacing behavior and home range size may be influ- enced concomitantly by Fisher density. Fishers are known to defend their territory against intruders (Powell 1993), and instances of fighting have been documented (Arthur et al. 1989). When Fisher den- sity increases after interruption of trapping, one way to minimize social interactions with members of the same sex and avoid overt aggression might be to contract home range size, as long as food resources remain sufficient to meet metabolic needs. Even if males may adjust their home ranges according to female spacing (Sandell 1989; Powell 1994), home range contraction may not restrict exclusive access to mates in a densily populated area. These three factors (mate access, density, and energy require- ments) that appear to influence home range size in Fisher are not necessarily exclusive. Conversely, when density decreases (, because of exploita- tion) surviving Fishers could extend their territory into vacant ones without any social conflict. Recent studies on Fisher populations at relatively low densi- ties (Jones 1991; Heinemeyer 1993) tend to support this hypothesis. Density Thirteen Fisher tracks were tallied along the tran
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