BOSTON -- A number of Metrowest families are reporting that their family pets have been vanishing at an alarming rate, and other animals are turning up dead, and some believe fisher cats are to blame.

An Andover resident even captured videos of the sharp-toothed weasel-like mammal up in a tree. Missing posters are turning up all over the region as pet owners search for animals that have disappeared recently.

"Signs everywhere. 'Lost dogs. Family heartbroken. Please help.' And you just know they're not coming back," professional dog walker Debi Whitcomb said.

The fisher cats have been spotted more often in residential neighborhoods. Whitcomb, who has clients in Dover, Natick, Needham, Wellesley and Wayland, says many of them have seen the animals.

"I've seen them slinking along, you know, the edge of people's yards, inside their fence, in Wellesley. I had one client who said they went to let their dog out on the deck and there was a fisher cat walking on the railing," Whitcomb said.

That was in broad daylight. In the past year, Dover resident Linda Ribeiro has lost two cats and a dog. She said she saw a fisher cat as big as a coffee table two weeks ago.

"Almost looked like a sea serpent or something. The head was up and then it came down to short front legs and then the back goes up and arches and then this long tail that's stuck up in the air," she said.

Ribeiro said homeowners need to be cautious.

"Just try to protect your animals. Keep an eye on them. I would protect small children too. I mean, that thing I saw was big and scary," Ribeiro said.

Wildlife officials in Metrowest said the days of worrying solely about coyotes are gone because the fisher cat population, which was once nearly extinct in the area, has rebounded. The animals are part of a family of animals that includes weasels, mink, otter, and skunks. They can be active in either day or night, but tend to be seen at dawn and dusk.

The Massachusetts Division of Wildlife says fisher cats do "view domestic cats and rabbits as food and will prey on them when hunting." It also says to keep pet rabbits and poultry secure, and remove trash, garbage, compost, and pet food that may attract fisher cats.