Let’s go down a rabbit hole.

That is where you will find one of many animals that could provide you with good luck in the New Year. Start your Jan. 1s with the utterance of those three magic words — rabbit, rabbit, rabbit — and prosperity will find you this year.

Just to be sure, put that phrase on repeat on the first day of every month and look for these rascally rabbits year-round, as they also symbolize new beginnings and abundance. But please leave their feet attached to their bodies — can’t imagine that bunny maiming would be auspicious.

Animal omens are everywhere: look to other cultures to find luck in many creatures. Some blessed beasts are domestic and others are wild.

In some Chinese cultures, good advice is to get a rooster. A live rooster can be placed at the head of your New Year’s table to encourage prosperity in your home. Even better, it is recommended to adorn the boys with red ribbons for luck and joy.

These birds are associated with punctuality and vigilance, and are believed to frighten evil spirits with their early, late and every time in between crowing. The rooster’s early rising habit encourages one to wake up and face the day’s challenges head on.

If roosters aren’t your thing, or aren’t allowed in your town (or at your dinner table), try another domestic friend. Cats are revered in Japan, especially lucky are their paw prints. Tradition suggests spreading flour or rice powder in doorways and hope cats will walk through the dust, providing protections to the household in addition to luck, wealth and success that will come your way. A maneki-neko is the ceramic (sometimes waving) cat that adorns many businesses and homes to encourage good fortune.

A nonnative fish is another animal that may carry your wishes into the New Year. Koi, a type of carp, is not found naturally in our waters, though one can see them in the garden pond at Felix Neck or at Mytoi on Chappaquiddick. Seek out these swimmers and whisper your aspirations for love, health and good fortune into their ears. Though fish lack earlobes, their otoliths or ear stones, will detect your murmurs. Pick a bright fish to speak to, as those bold colors will increase the success of your requests.

Back to the wild, where native birds can be fortuitous omens. Hungarian lore suggests that seeing a swallow on New Year’s Day will bring happiness and success, so folks leave food out to encourage them to visit.

Swallows, though mostly gone from the Island, would be a lucky avian sighting. Tree swallows are insectivores and have usually migrated by the insect-scarce winter season. However, there is hope, since this bird has been seen on the Island’s Christmas bird count at least 24 times since 1960.

Ravens are known as wise messengers for the gods in Scandinavia that can be tempted with food. If these birds accept your food offerings, your requests for good tidings will be taken under advisement.

While this list is only a smattering of the beliefs of all of the creatures of Noah’s Ark, it is a reminder to look to nature and its many wild things as inherent to, not independent of, our lives and luck. If a little bird told you, believe. Remember that there are plenty of fish in the sea (and the ponds) to whisper to, bring you luck, provide providence, and offer good times in the new year.

Suzan Bellincampi is director of the Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary in Edgartown, and author of Martha’s Vineyard: A Field Guide to Island Nature and The Nature of Martha’s Vineyard.