Ghosts in the Thickets

The Bush White House has protected the fewest species of any administration since the Endangered Species Act became law in 1973. That puts the fast-disappearing New England cottontail in the cross hairs of a heated debate.

(Illustration Edel Rodriguez)

By Murray Carpenter

March 19, 2007

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New England cottontails are archetypal Yankees. For centuries, they thrived in all six New England states and, except for a sliver of New York, nowhere else. They maintain low profiles, scratch their livings out of marginal habitats, and are a bit fussy. Though they’ve got the extraordinarily productive reproductive tracts typical of rabbits – a female can bear up to ... (Full article: 2830 words)