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Archives The Altamont Enterprise, August 2, 2007 Fishers leading
a life of crime" Fingerprints track wayward animals By Saranac
Hale Spencer ALBANY COUNTY Carbon dust and contact paper, sticky
side up, arent used in the forensics lab, but, for the New York
State museum, they serve the same purpose as dansyl chloride or
fingerprint-lifting tape. Like human fingertips, fishers’ paws
have unique patterns, and a research team at the museum has
begun fingerprinting them as a way to track their population.
The project, said Roland Kays, curator of mammals at the museum,
"has its roots in the basic question: How do you know where an
animal lives"" A relative of the weasel, fishers are one of the
biggest members in that family, Kays said; they generally grow
to be between eight and 10 pounds. The lowest point for their
population numbe