Beware the Frabbits!

Maine State wildlife officials working with a team of biologists from Harvard as well as universities around New England have announced that a new hybrid specie has been identified from several small animals trapped in Fort Williams Park over the late winter, early spring. The discovery has town officials discussing the possibility of opening the park later, and closing it earlier, to keep residents and visitors safe from the early morning and dusk times that seem to bring the animals out. The sense of danger on public officials’ minds comes from the intriguing mixture of characteristics the animals present—being part fox, and part rabbit. The hybrid, dubbed “frabbit” by the groundskeepers at Fort Williams who first spotted the young animals venturing out into the open, is deceptively cute, while exhibiting the fierce hunting instincts of its fox parentage. The frabbit is causing a stir in the scientific community, being an extremely rare blending of carnivore and herbivore—this animal will hunt and eat anything.

Many residents who are regular visitors to the Fort have noticed a sharp decline in the squirrel population over the last year, and it became a common courtesy to mention fox sightings to dog owners in the off-leash area. No one imagined that the foxes were mating with the population of wild rabbits also in residence at the Fort, though in retrospect, the new development makes sense to the biologists. Global warming, changes in natural habitat and the severe lack of acorns this past fall all contributed to the evolutionary event. Whether these new animals breed like their rabbit ancestors will determine whether this event will usher in a new era of New England Frabbits, or whether the animals will be unable to reproduce and continue their kind.

Furriers from Boston have already approached town officials looking to purchase frabbits with the hope of farming them for their luxurious coats. Town Manager Mike McGovern issued a statement from the town council that decried the use of animal fur for clothing, and vowed to seek any and all government protections for the small group at Fort Williams. “If the Fort needs to be closed and declared a wildlife sanctuary, then so be it. In these tough fiscal times, the town would save a bundle”.

The implications for Fort Williams Park, arguably, one of the most popular destinations in Maine and home to Fort Williams Light, the most photographed lighthouse in America, could be serious, and may elicit strong opinions on the part of town residents and neighbors, except that reports such as this, offered on April Fool's Day should be regarded only as fun for this day of Fools.

(pictured here, Athena on guard at Fort Williams, keeping us safe from the frabbits)

Countdown to a Sunny Day

Enough with the rain already! While we have ventured out to Fort Williams on two rainy mornings and met other slicker-clad people with soggy furry friends, Athena does NOT like the rain. I attribute it all to her origins in Louisana around the time of Hurrican Katrina, but other than romps at the park in the rain, I pretty much have to pull her off the covered porch on a leash to get her to go outside.

Tomorrow we are promised sunshine and increasing amounts of warmth that may make us a little giddy here in Maine-- we are unacustomed to Easter without heavy winter coats. But the signs of new life are all around us-- you can almost stand and watch the Earth becoming greener. On Sunday, before the rains moved into New England, we saw a feather in the becoming-green grass, and the most tell-tale sign of spring of them all, a kite in a tree.

The hill in the center of Fort Williams Park is heaven for Kite flyers all through the spring and summer, but someone probably went home very unhappy last weekend, without their Toy Story kite.

Before we headed home we met two Lolas and a Lucy-- One Lola was a gorgeous boxer-shar pei mix puppy-- way too busy to stand still for a picture, but the others, Lucy and Lola, attracted spectators to their odd wrestling match-up. Lucy the Golden Retreiver got completely beat up by Lola the Basset Hound. They are in fact the best of friends, and you did kind of get the idea that Lucy was playing with Lola in the same way adults sometimes play games with young children, letting them win. Don't tell Lola.

Remember the "April Scoop" on Saturday April 3, starting at 9am. Hope to see you there!

The April Scoop!

Be there or get a cat!

Last year we stumbled upon this very good idea as it was happening-- this year we're delighted to have seen the posters placed around the off-leash area, so we'll come prepared and hope to see lots of other off-leash area community members helping to spiff up the park for spring. Fort Williams is such a wonderful place; it really is a privilege to be part of the stewardship of this lovely park. To whoever thought of it: THANK YOU!

Circle the Waggin's

Oo-la-la, what a day. When spring arrives in New England, it is not a particular day on the calendar, it is a day when the weather feels like the first kiss of true love-- and that day was today. When you can enjoy a walk near the ocean without pulling your coat closer, life is good, it's that simple, and when you can do that in March in Maine, it is magic.

The morning walk was accompanied by both the chirping of birds that every year I intend to learn to identify... maybe this year I'll add a few to my list of one-- cardinal; and the fog horn of Portland Headlight. It wasn't that foggy, and it wasn't cold and damp this morning, but a mist hung over the water, and I'm sure the morning fishermen and lobster boats appreciated the headlight, as mariners have for over two hundred years.

When I left work at the end of the day, there was only one thought in my mind-- extra walk night. The weather was too perfect to pass up the opportunity. In this part of the country, you do not expect the same weather on any two consecutive days. It is important to enjoy it when it happens. Fort Williams was strangely quiet at 6pm, but Athena was sooooo happy, she ran along with her tail wagging in complete circles. To try and imagine how that would work, try to imagaine hoola-hooping and running at the same time. I don't know how she does it. As she prances ahead of me, occasionally she breaks into something that I can only describe as skipping-- I never thought dogs could skip, but Athena can.
As she runs along, well ahead of me, passing other walkers to catch up to their dogs, I see the people gesturing to each other, mimicking with their hands the way Athena's long silky ears flap up and down when she runs. She runs with sheer joy, and she makes people happy just to see her joy. The most common comment people make is "That's a happy dog" and that is the truth. Athena is all happiness, and tonight, after a bonus evening run, she is a good tired dog. It makes me forget the couple of rough days when it rained something like 5-inches in 48 hours. Athena still seems traumatized by heavy rain, and on Sunday it was 4pm before I could get her off the porch. That kind of day leads to major mischief, and Athena can be an evil genius.

(Don't let the look of that sweet dog curled up in the chair fool you-- turn your back and you will be missing a box of Girl Scout cookies)

Spring is here, perhaps ahead of the calendar's schedule, but we will definitely welcome an early check-in. You can almost stand still for a few minutes and see the grass starting to green up. If there was no spring, winter would be impossible, but spring is such a wonderful thing to look forward to, we make it through to the end of winter, and we welcome Spring every year like a long lost friend. It is good to catch up with a long lost friend.

Afternoon Recess

I do enjoy the quiet of Fort Williams in the morning. The faithful every day walkers with dogs may be there (though they weren't yesterday-- Athena and I were all alone in our frost covered solitude), but it is quiet enough to gather your thoughts in the morning, or to just soak in the sounds of the birds and the waves and hopefully soon, the leaves on the trees. Sunday afternoon, it was a lovely day, much more spring-like than typical for early March in Maine, so we headed back to Fort Williams in the afternoon for a bonus walk.

The afternoon is a completely different place. It was a really lovely day, but instead of one or two cars parked, as in the morning, I started to worry that I wouldn't find a place to park my car! And when we entered the off-leash area, it looked like some sort of a dog convention! There were dogs everywhere, joyfully chasing balls and each other. Some we knew, like Rambo (pictured at right below), the giant labradoodle, and we met quite a few new dogs and their owners. New to to us, but not to each other, as many of them are afternoon regulars, another distinct community, this one a bit more energetic and busy than the morning dog community.

Afternoon recess is perfect for dogs, perfect for people-- why the work day doesn't somehow adopt it in its purest form, I don't know. A coffee break just does not do for you what the things we did at recess as children. would--a quick game of dodge ball or jump rope. You'd know you were alive again. Someone wrote a book about all the important life lessons learned in kindergarten. Maybe dogs are in our lives to remind us of these.

The Incorrect Number of Retrievers

One of the first friends we made at Fort Williams was Linda and her herd of Golden Retrievers. The number can go up and down a bit from time to time, because Linda does fostering for a rescue organization, but for the last year or so, her three, Callie, Maddie and Frankie, were her constant companions. Maddie taught Athena to love the apples that fell at the end of the season, and it seemed the rottener they got, the more Athena loved them. Frankie was always ready for a game of tag with Athena, but Callie and Maddie were more sedate, choosing to visit with the people who would pass by, and one or the other would sit close to my leg and lean against me for a pat.
The very first day we saw them, it was near a holiday-- I can't remember which one... Halloween? St. Patrick's Day? Whatever time of year it was, Linda used to get them each a holiday bandanna, and they were a picture just waiting for a calendar-- especially when they would start a spontaneous game of chew the bandanna off each other. It was a riot.
This past summer, Linda took in Travis, a young spirited golden retriever who it was hard to believe anyone couldn't love, but I am the first to admit that rescue dogs can have their issues. I adore Athena, but in the first few months (okay, pretty much the whole first year), I could be driven to tears, and would lament "puppies aren't supposed to make you cry!"
The wonderful thing about someone like Linda is that she really gets to know a dog, and she can really help to find the right family-- she won't let someone make the mistake of adopting a high spirited dog without committing to making sure the dog gets enough exercise. By the fall, it was clear who the right family was for Travis-- Linda's family, so then there were four goldens in variegated tones, some slower some faster, but all happy swishy tail wagging friends.
When I saw them yesterday, I found myself continuing to scan the landscape trying to find the right number of retrievers, but I couldn't. We found out that Callie has been diagnosed with bone cancer, and was home resting, the park now too much exertion. In this funny little neighborhood where we live for just an hour or two each day, where at least half the friends have four legs, it is a tough blow whenever anyone is hurt or sick or when there is the pain of the loss of a faithful companion. We miss Callie and send her our love in our thoughts. We are glad that she is in a home where she is surrounded by love and is well cared for at the end of a long adventure. Time to start a batch of home-made dog biscuits...

Frankie, leaning against my pocket-- the one that holds the dog biscuits