The fisher, a magnificent fur bearer larger than the marten, dens in the forest of the North. Seldom glimpsed, he is solitary and nocturnal. The Indians call him "black cat."
In this novel, based on fact, Cameron Langford tells of one year in the fisher's life, from the spring of his infancy to the next spring, when his first mating occurs. It is a story of struggle and survival as he establishes his territory, battles with fellow predators, and faces the harsh months of winter. It is also the story of the lessons he learns from man, the most dangerous predator of all.
There is the bearded trapper, whose rank smell and metallic instruments the fisher soon associates with destruction. And there is the old Ojibway, whose gentle ministrations save the fisher on more than one occasion. From the one, he learns that man means pain and death; from the other, that man carries the possibility of trust.
Along with the fisher's world, there are vignettes of the animals who share his terrain the porcupines and foxes, bears and skunks, and the myriad smaller creatures who pass their lives close to or under the earth. The mingling of their stories forms a tapestry of the interdependence of all living things.
Cameron Langford has written a book that is a plea for freedom and respect for all wild creatures. With prose of lyric intensity, he captures the incredible loveliness and loneliness of their secret world.
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