A threatened species of rabbit may cause some changes for the Gorham bypass before the road is even built.
If the bypass, scheduled for a construction start next year, cuts through land that is home to the New England cottontail, engineers might have to design underpasses to allow the rabbits to cross the road.
The rabbits’ population is shrinking, and the Legislature could place them on the state’s protected list later this year.
“Their habitat is shrinking,” said Kim Morris, a biologist for Maine’s Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (MDIFW).
Morris said only about 300 New England cottontails are left statewide and approximately 50 of those are in Gorham and Westbrook. As the thickets that make up their habitats shrink, survival of some cottontails might depend on them getting to the other of the bypass, which will be fenced.
State transportation engineers are designing the bypass. But just how many, if any, bunny bypasses would be required is unknown now.
John Perry, a biologist for the Maine Department of Transportation, said the state isn’t committed yet to put in underpasses specifically for rabbits.
He plans on hiking the bypass path soon with a wildlife department biologist. They’ll scout for signs of the New England cottontail.
Transportation officials are looking at building places for wildlife to pass under the bypass. Morris said if the New England cottontails are found in the area, it would be possible to construct smaller places for the rabbits to cross. A culvert could serve as a bunny bypass, said Morris, but she added that the rabbits might have to share an underpass with other animals.
Morris said an underpass wouldn’t be a “major bunny” highway. “They won’t need a traffic light,” she said.
The New England cottontails like the thick confines of underbrush, Morris said. If the area leading to the bypass was cleared, it would pose a problem, she said.
New England cottontails like the shrubs that spring up after a forest has been cut off or when farmland has been abandoned. They usually live in small isolated patches and it’s difficult for them to safely relocate.
They would be reluctant to leave the safety of the thick underbrush for fear of predators. The rabbits don’t have good vision, and can’t see predators coming from too far away, Morris said.
In the open, they are vulnerable to predators like fox and hawks. Morris said the survival rate of New England cottontails crossing an open field is not high.
John Bernard, a member of the Windham-Gorham Rod and Gun Club, has spotted New England cottontails in a couple areas in Gorham, including the vicinity of the bypass. “They are small and real brown,” Bernard said. “They look like the Easter bunny.”
Sprawl is also an enemy of New England cottontails. Wildlife rescue expert Dave Sparks of Windham said with additional houses come more cats. And cats catch rabbits. He said the mortality rate for rabbits caught by cats is 60 to 80 percent.
New England cottontails are found predominantly along the coastal area in southern Maine. “We are at the northern limits of their range,” Sparks said. “I’ve been seeing them for years.”
Hunting of New England cottontails ceased in 2004. A Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife statement said the state recognizes “the current plight of this species and the need to initiate a comprehensive conservation program.”
Mark Latti, a department spokesman, said the New England cottontails’ habitat is fragmented and numbers are dwindling. “It’s a species of concern to us,” he said.
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