PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 2, 2025
Many invasive species in Maine have been here since the first Europeans arrived, though we still see new threats to our native biodiversity regularly. Cats (domestic cats allowed outdoors) are non-native and are the No. 1 anthropogenic cause of mortality in birds, killing more than 2 billion birds per year in the United States. There is a new invasive mammal that has been knocking on Maine’s door for some years, and just recently seems to have kicked it down: the eastern cottontail. In the early 1900s, eastern cottontails were introduced into New England states to supplement and increase hunting opportunities, but because of their quick rates of reproduction and high survivorship, they’ve become a problem for our native rabbits. For decades, there has been a successful effort to keep eastern cottontails from Maine, but the dam has broken. The love for these non-native, invasive rabbits is similar to the love for invasive lupines. ~ Maine Audubon Staff Naturalist Doug Hitchcox