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)