Salemtown neighbors help cottontails during breeding season with nesting baskets
Neighbors in the Salemtown area of Nashville have taken initiative to ensure the safe continuation of the cycle of life by helping cottontail rabbits have safe places to breed.
Per the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, Tennessee is home to three species of rabbits: the eastern cottontail, the swamp rabbit, and the Appalachian cottontail. The eastern cottontail is the most abundant and widespread in Tennessee, according to the TWRA.
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According to District 19 Councilman Jacob Kupin, the strange baskets popping up in the neighborhood are meant to help the rabbits have a space to protect their vulnerable young from predators and other hazards from the human-centered world.
The baskets have small holes that are just big enough for a mother rabbit to enter and exit in order to protect her young from lawn mowers, weed eaters, people's pets and other predators in the area.
Having protective areas like these baskets is another example of a 'great partnership' between urban livers and nature to help take care of the natural world around them.
'It's great to see these baskets popping up to help the Cottontails breed and survive,' he told News 2. 'Even in an urban environment, it's important that that's accentuated.'
'We know in an urban environment there are a number of car conflicts and people conflicts, especially as we continue to build in the city, so this is a way to make sure that [the rabbits] are protected and have the space to do what they need to do and reproduce and continue to be a beautiful part of our urban core,' Kupin added.
The idea of the protective baskets was organic from the neighbors themselves, according to Kupin, which highlights how involved neighborhood associations are in their local communities.
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'These are communities that are deeply invested in their neighborhoods and take steps like this to enhance it, which is really exciting for me to see,' he told News 2.
Having this type of human intervention to protect natural species also displays the desire of community members to keep green spaces and more natural elements of their environment in tact in the face of growing development.
'There's a lot of really great pieces of nature in our city,' Kupin said. 'Sometimes in urban cores you kind of lose that—it becomes a cement jungle. It's important to me that we maintain our greenery and maintain our flora and fauna.'
Do you have news happening in your neighborhood? Let us know by sending an email to neighborhoodnews@wkrn.com.
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