Predators in Connecticut

Is it just me or has the population of predators in the state of Connecticut skyrocketed in the last decade or so?

 This is something that I have been wondering about for some time now.

 Although you may have not given it much thought, you probably can recollect times in recent years when you saw ‘something,’ whether at the time you knew what it was or not of you had not seen it in a long time or perhaps never before.

By this use of the word ‘predator’ I mean various medium- to large-sized carnivorous mammals (I would also say owls and hawks are around in greater numbers but that s a different blog entirely) Personally, in the past ten years I have seen numerous foxes (of both types), coyotes, otters, fishers, weasels and bobcats - some quite close to home - some not so - and some in places you would never expect.

In the area where I live, rabbits have never been a common sight but nevertheless are always there and can be found with a little searching. With rabbits being a good source of ready protein for most things that eat meat, I have long suspected and am now more convinced than ever that the reason for their scarcity is because of the numerous predators prowling the area both day and night.

And yet, the fact that there are some still around means that they never entirely disappear and thus are always a source of food. This would make sense as history (not to mention Watership Down) has taught us that the rabbit - at least many of the numerous species throughout the world - are prolific breeders. Not all that are pursued by predators are actually caught, thereby insuring the populations’ continued survival.

This basic information applies to the eastern cottontail, which is the species in question here.

While this post is about predators, rabbits are mentioned to represent a food source that is always there. (Speaking of food, it does seem to me that meadow voles and white-footed mice - two common U.S. rodents that are found throughout New England in large numbers - are more numerous than ever but perhaps that’s only my imagination. Either way these would be an ever-present food source for small and large predators alike.)

Now deep conspiracies aside - which I know nothing about by the way - it seems that what this basically boils down to is that with wildlife seemingly doing so well in the state, all the native predators have followed suit.

There are many possibilities but no absolute answers. I would be most grateful if folks could leave their opinions in the comment section regarding this topic as well as sharing their own experiences.