The weekly register. [volume] (Point Pleasant, Va. [W. Va.]) 1862-1909, 1886-02-17
ne @AFca q CIVILIZATION.

7Ta-sH|f I.
ME- common tleerwas abundant from
flgn1R Canada, throughout The east.
egfslialfpft United States when Eli
iere HIT attledin this part Of North
stnlagica. tt# now-restricted 10 the
slafo sttlqd, EOrested portions u Ills
Il aud hrapidlY decreasing in NUM-
lsts The elk 0r waplte, ranged
Throughout temperate North America as
dstlIe Blue Ridge. For many years
y las been wholly extirpated east Of
ihe great plaiusand IN the Rocky noun.
,tuislSi md ID the far west generally Is
rapidly approaching extinction. The
moose mud the carbon have been driven
iiprlMarl In New England ard south.
ON Canada tostill unsettled forest 70.
fionS while the bison, formerly rang.
ingi considerable herds eastward to
ilic Allegliaiiies and occupying tie
sgfeat plaInB in countless numbers, Is
nov practically extirpated; n few small
lapIlsremOtely scattered, Mountaineering
y few dozen individuals each, consti.
-tnting tie insignificant remnant Of the
millions that, lcsstlien twenty years ago
lreverd the plains from Texas TO the
Saskatchewan, Tie prOng.llorn and
tlieblack.tailed deer have suffered great
restriction in area Of habitat, and have
greatly decreased in numbers. The
mountain sheep and mountain goat,
.dellghting In the rocky Businesses Of
alpine SUBMITS, well nigh Inaccessible
70 man, still bid defiance to human foes,
although tie former Inns been driven
from much u III former range. Attic
present rate u destruction only rem,
nant viii soon remain Of any Of the mi.
ininnnt tribe, even IN the comparatively
unsettled west, though formerly they
ospr5psead the greater part Of tho CON
tinent.
Ilielarger carniyorous nianmals--as
the bears, the wolf, the coyote, the
lynses and the panther, formerly 50
abundant throughout the parts Of the
country they respectively inhabited ms
t0be az its first settlement obnoxious
and d serlous actrimcnt to the farmer
and atOck-iaiser are now practically
exiernlinated east Of the Rocky noun.
tlins and thence westward are rare in
comparison to their former abundance.
This Is especially true Of the wolves,
the coyotes and the panthers; the bears
md tbs lynxes still maintain foot
hold in the partially wilderness areas Of
tile east.
The fur-bearing nnimals-as, notably,
the beaver formerly nearly universal
Occupant Of the continent, the other,
the sable and tlie mink have greatly
decreased in numbers, all but the latter
having been long nearly extirpated
throughout all the more settled por.
tons Of the CNst. The sable, a northern
species, never ranged over very large
part Of the United States, but the others
were spread southwark to the gulf. The
squirrels, at times a scourge to the
frontier farmer through their abund-
anee, linger still in small numbers;
while Che smaller verlnin Of the fields
have doubtless suffered but slight de-
crease in numbers.
Tie birds Rre variolsly affected, in
accordance with tlleir'food and llaunts.
The larger forcat.haunting species-as
the bird Of prey, tile woodpeckers and
some Of the grouse-have followed the
forests in their downfall; the turkey, the
prairie hen and the aquatic game birds
--lstlle ducks, geese and great variety
of shore biuls-haye in places heen ex-
tripated, and, in general, are few in
compassionate their numbers century
ago. TIE song birds have doubtless
lleld their own, and in not a fow in,
stances have certainly increased; the
Observation-Disclosures of the country
being, Oh The whole, favorable to their
welfare. although they suffer ut the
hands Of nest.robbing boys, and children
Of larger growth anxious to kill some
thing, however slender the pretext. The
graceful terms, or "sea-swalows,n and
the herons, especially the beautifully
r!umcl egrets, have fallen prey TO
fashion and the 4hat trade to such an
extent that where fifty years ago the
terms fltirly swarmcI along our Atlantic
coast they arc now mainly conspicuous
by their absence.
Bltrachian and rcptilian life has also
greatly diminished, the former through
the drainage of ponds and marshes in
tie reclamation OF waste lands, the
latter through the almost universal in.
bord hatred of snakes.
The depletion of or inland streams
md lakes and the larger rivers of fish is
simply notorious, extending even to the
marine species that enter tile rivers
merely to spawn. Nor has marine life
fated better, us witness the decline of
the lobster fisheries, the dctual aud very
clrly extirpation of theoystcr along our
northern coasts and the exhaustion Of
once famous clam flats.
Much Of the destruction of animal life
was simply inevitable, since wild large
game can not existinadcnsely populated
',.''s'' ''' W. P"','i' '''' "'V' ~
"ll''s e''y' i're'''gSa'Y .'aS'eLGu' us WIZ
. ..' 'ae i'reserEauoh OF oeer 0S legisIa-
I'VE ga y, III regions where they
M ,,, o''T nj, nave .ons SINCE ceased
~ eNlat. lhe course Ol TIE pioneer las