Hey, there! Log in / Register
In Cambridge, they're breeding like rabbits
By adamg on Sat, 02/16/2013 - 11:18am
Early this morning, John Hawkinson tweeted:
Just saw a rabbit in Mid-Cambridge 20' off Mass Ave. When did this start?
Quite awhile ago, according to our go-to guy for matters Cantabrigian, Robert Winters:
There were rabbits sighted this past year off Harvard Street between Trowbridge & Ellery Sts. They're around.
Nat Tarbox adds:
Walk around the river path near Harvard, there is a rabbit every ten feet.
Kathy C reports:
last summer, cute bunnies in weedy parking lot at Mass Ave and Albany.
Siobhan Gallagher cautions:
Look closely at them. Don't think they're our cottontails but, rather, an invasive breed.
Neighborhoods:
Ad:
Support Universal Hub
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
Comments
I agree with Siobhan Gallagher
And they're all over Kendall Sq area. An MIT/DARPA experiment gone bad?
We saw one
A few months back late one evening in Kendall. It looked like a pretty standard-issue wild rabbit to me, definitely not a domestic bunny or lab escapee.
Year of the Rabbits?
I've noticed a lot more rabbits of late. I've lived in my neighborhood long enough to see years where there were too many squirrels, too many chipmnunks, (and then a big increase in hawks, foxes and coyotes in the years following) and now too many rabbits.
I seem to remember a rabbit bonanza in 1990 or so when I worked at Arthur D Little. The campus was totally overrun with rabbits, so maybe this just happens every so many years.
Interesting that it seems to be an area wide thing. This may explain the coyote forays into neighborhoods.
bunny rabbits at ADL campus
I guess there were rabbits around but as I recall, most of our wildlife at Acorn Park (outside the buildings, at last) were huge gaggles of Canada geese.
Really?
I'm sure the Earth now considers humans an invasive breed. And we're nowhere as cute. Academics...sheesh!
Joke's on them
Eastern Cottontails are not native to New England, either, but good luck telling them apart from New England cottontails. The two types are nearly indistinguishable from each other without skeletal and DNA analysis.
(credit due to my younger son's 6th grade project on wild rabbits)
Owls
Remember people wondering about the uptick in Owl sighting in and around Boston?
It's coming
Next comes a wave of donkeys...then the kangaroos...and then comes the prophesied arrival of King Winnie the Pooh, who will enslave us all and force us to work in the honey mines!
bunneh.bunneh.bunneh
...bunneh.
Personally, I'm a fan of the Bike Path bunnies.
There were 2-3 of them (a Mom and 2 babies I think) last summer.
Only some of the dogs are keen enough to notice them, and oddly even less people. My fun is seeing them out around dusk, and pointing them out to other walkers.
My guess is that the red tail hawks from the Porter Sq. area are keeping them reasonably in check on the Camberville line.
Bunnvana!
If you are a real bunny lover, here's a tip.
In the couple of hours around sunset, head to the Hormel Stadium in Meffuh and walk the path along the Mystic River behind the Middle Schools.
There are a couple of benches - sit quietly, they will come out all around you.
I've seen more rabbits in my
I've seen more rabbits in my area (Newton/Waltham/Watertown/along the Charles) the past few years, but I've also seen more hawks (red tail and others) as well. I hadn't necessarily noticed this being a particularly banner year for the bunnies, though.
We're in
Hyde Park, and there are a lot of rabbits around. When we lived in Brighton about 20 years ago and took walks around the Charles there, the riverside was teeming with them.
What we need to do...
Is import some needle snakes to take care of the rabbits. If they get out hand we can import their natural enemy the gorilla. The gorillas we won't have to worry about since the winter will take care of them. :)
I SEE THEM A LOT TOO!
Walking down Brookline Street off Central Square one morning, I saw a large rabbit hop across the street. For no particular reason, I spoke to it as I would a dog or cat, saying, "Well good morning! How are you?" The rabbit rudely ignored me and went under a bush. (I could tell that it regarded me with disdain by its facial expression. You all know the one I speak of.) The other day I saw a small and very cute brown bunny on the lawn at B.U. I spoke to it as it nibbled grass, and it let me get quite close. Seemed to be comfortable around humans and with the sound of my voice. "You are cute!" "Yes you are!", etc. I also enjoy seeing hawks at B.U. If hawk meets bunny, a group of students will (based on precedence) no doubt stand in a semi circle around them and take videos and photos with their phones of Mr. Hawk having lunch. Ho hum, circle of life.
Not always