Wildlife
Franklin Park's woodlands are filled with creatures of all sizes. The park is home to great horned, barn and screech owls, red-tail hawks which are often seen overhead, and snapping turtles.
There are sightings (or signs) of nocturnal animals that used to be associated with more remote areas, including coyote, fox, skunk, possum, raccoon, mole, and fisher. There are animals we’re more accustomed to seeing: squirrels, chipmunks, rabbits, and mice. You can identify park animals by their tracks. Print drawings of animal tracks to look for them yourself in the park.
A coyote den is known to exist at the Forest Hills Cemetery. Needing a 3-5 mile area for hunting, the coyotes that have been seen in the park at dusk are believed to have crossed into Franklin Park from the Cemetery. They prefer living near rocky outcroppings and water. In Franklin Park, the areas around Scarborough Pond easily meets these requirements. Coyotes take their kill back to their den, so dead animals seen in the woodlands are not their victims. Predator birds like hawks or large owls, and perhaps fishers, mean dogs being walked in the park are sniffing out more dead squirrels and feral cats.
The most common wildlife - and therefore what you might see on a visit to the park - are squirrels, chipmunks, rabbits, small mice and a large variety of birds. The MSPCA's Living with Wildlife program offers safety cautions if you come across an animal in the park. Most animals will run away from you more quickly than you can run from them! Deer have been spotted in Olmsted Park, closer to downtown Boston, and in the Arnold Arboretum, but not yet by Franklin Park users. There are verified reports of a red fox - one seen mid-day near the Glen Road entrance to the park and tracks in the snow this winter leading to its den.
The Massachusetts Audubon Society reports that the state is losing up to 40 acres of land to development every day. As wild animals lose their habitat, they move and adapt. Suburban development is having an impact on our urban greenspaces!
This may be why park neighbors reported sightings of an unusual animal that fit the description of a fisher. It resembles a mink with a bushy tail and small rounded ears. Fishers are known to prefer large tracts of land and open space, but seem to be learning to survive in populated areas. Verified sightings of a fisher on Route 24 south of Boston during rush hour and north of the city in the Lynn area, lead Boston Park Rangers to believe that they are migrating closer to urban areas. In 2004 Boston Water and Sewer workers contacted the director of the Zoo after finding a dead fisher on American Legion Highway adjacent to the park (see photo below). Unable to recognize the animal, they assumed it had escaped from the Zoo.
Fishers are arboreal – great tree-climbers – and only come out under cover of darkness. Although fishers are accused of being viscious, in reality they are shy, intelligent, curious animals who usually never attack an animal larger than a rabbit. Fishers eat small rodents, such as mice, voles, and squirrels, as well as fruits and berries and the occasional carrion. They are also one of the few predators that hunt porcupine., eating their soft underbelly. If you own a cat or small dog and live next to Franklin Park, don't allow them outdoors unsupervised, as the fisher might consider them a tasty meal.
