Where
the Wild Things Are ... in Rhode Island
By
TIM FAULKNER/ecoRI.org News staff
Yes,
there are bears roaming free in Rhode
Island — and beavers, fisher cats, minks, bald eagles
and coyotes. There are no moose, mountain lions or wild elephants, only at the
zoo.
Here
is a brief rundown of some of the uncommon creatures and critters roaming the Rhode Island wilds. Many
of the animals haven't been seen since Colonial or pre-Colonial times, when
they were either hunted into oblivion or lost their forest habitat.
Charlie
Brown, a wildlife biologist for the state Division of Fish and Wildlife, said
there are no exact numbers, but suggests many of these animals are coming back
because of an increase in forested land, less hunting and the reintroduction of
animals in neighboring states.
Black bears may not be breading in Rhode Island ,
but their numbers are growing between 7 percent and 8 percent in Connecticut and Massachusetts .
"Those excess bears have to go somewhere," Brown said. Young male
bears tend to "wander aimlessly" across large territories, especially
in the spring when 2-year-old bears leave the care of their mother. "They
basically strike out into the world trying to find their place," Brown
said.
Bears
have been spotted in management areas and forested habitat, and occasionally in
Providence , Kent
and Washington
counties. They are mostly vegetarians and tend to avoid humans. "The trend
is there are likely to be more in the future," Brown said.
Beaver pelts were a fashion staple and the animal was quickly
wiped out during Colonial days. "They were a huge sought-after valued
commodity," Brown said. "They were probably one of the first to
disappear." Bwtween the 1950s and '70s, beavers were trapped and relocated
in Connecticut and Massachusetts
and since have migrated back into western and northern Rhode Island . Their numbers continue to grow
and are now found in seven watersheds, according to Brown.
Note from Will: in March, I saw my first fisher cat, in broad daylight, dashing across my backyard. He moved too fast for me to photograph, but he looked like this. |
Fisher cats are not actually cats but are members of the weasel
family. They have been long gone because of hunting, perhaps since the early
1700s. Fishers retreated northward until they re-emerged in the 1980s in wooded
areas of all four counties in mainland Rhode Island ,
but not Aquidneck Island or other islands.
Coyotes never lived in Rhode Island
or much of the eastern United
State until the 20th
century. The first recorded shooting of a coyote in Rhode
Island occurred in Warren
in 1968. Today, sightings are common in urban areas and in much of the state,
except on Block Island . Coyotes are shy and
attacks on humans are rare.
Mink, also a member of the weasel family, never left Rhode Island . They are
mainly nocturnal mammals living in wet habitats. Minks are carnivores that feed
on rodents, fish, crustaceans, frogs and birds. They can be found in all six New England states.
Mountain lions. Brown said he hasn't seen any credible evidence of
mountain lions in Rhode Island .
The last mountain lion in the state was shot in 1847 in West Greenwich and is
preserved at Harvard
University . There is no
native mountain lion population anywhere in New England ,
according to officials.
Moose. About 1,000 Moose live in Massachusetts ,
but there are none in Rhode Island ,
according to Brown.
Beavers,
coyotes, fisher cats and minks are all still trapped for their pelts in Rhode Island , along with
raccoons, skunks, foxes, opossums and weasels. River otters are common, but
can't be trapped. Other uncommon critters seen rarely in these parts include
bobcats, southern flying squirrels, star-nosed moles and shrews.
Protected
management areas are at risk of becoming islands as adjoining open space that
allows many species to roam across larger territories is cleared for buildings
and pavement. The stable growth of once rare animals in Rhode Island , Brown said, "looks good
on paper, but it's not getting better."
He
also said many smaller amphibians and reptiles are becoming less common because
of their inability to relocate from smaller lots lost to development.