Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1886-02-13
The March of Civilization.

EiHttS. With iINiNf'' 49,
tied in this part OF North America.
Itis now restricted to the sparsely
settled. forested portions OF this
area. and is rapidly decreasing III
numbers. Tile "elk," or wamtl,
ranged throughout temperate North
America as far as the Blue Ridge
For many Years it has been wholly
extirlated east OF the great plains
and in the Rocky mountains, and III
the far west generally rapidly APP
preaching extinction. The moose
ana the caribou have been driven
nmtl,war( in New England and
southern Cauada to still unsettled
forest regions; while the bison
formerly ranging i'll considerable
herds eastward to the AlleghanleS.
and occupying the great plains IN
countless numbers, is now prac'l-
allyextirpatcd;a few small bands
remotely scattered, and numbering
a few dozen individuals each. con-
sti,uting the insignificant remnant
of the millions that, less than TWEEN
ty wears ago covered the plains
from Texas TO the Saskatchewan.
The prong horn and the black-talled
deer have suffered great restrlc-
ton in area of habitat, and have
greatly decreased i'll numbers. :
The mountain sheep and mountain
goat, delighting in the rocky fast
nesses of alpine SUBMITS, well
m"h inaccessible to man, still bid
defiance 70 human foes, although
the former has been driven from
much of its former range. At the
present rate of destruction only Il
remnant will soon remain of any OF
theruminant tribe, even III the com
parativcIy unsettled west, though
f,.merly they ovcrSpread the great
er part of the continent.
The larger carnlvoronS mammals
rs the bears, the wolf, the 'yote,
thelynxeS and the panther, form,
cry so abundant throughout the
parts of the country they reSpec-
lively inhabited as to be at its first
settlement obnoxious and Il serious
detriment to the farmer and stock
raiScr-are HOW practically eXter
minated east of he Rocky noun
taiuS. 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 and the lynXeS
still maintain Il toothold i'll the par
TALLY wilderness areas of the east.
Tie tur.bearing animalS-aS,
notable, the beaver Formerly IA
nearly universal occupant OF the
continent), the other. the sable and
the mink-have greatly decreased
in numbers, all but the latter HAY
ing been long nearly extirpatel
throughout all the more setrled por-
lions of the east. The sable, u
northern species,neverranged over
"a very large part of the United
States. but the others We're spread
southwark to the gulf. The Squir-
rels, ut times scourge to the from
tier farmer through their abnnd-
ance, linger still in small numbers;
while the smaller vermin of the
TieIds fave ,ioGbtiess Suffered but
Sli.ht decrease in numbers.
The birds are variously affected,
in accordance with their food and
haunts. The larger torrst-haunt
ing SpecieS-aS the birds of prev.
the wcodpeckers and some OF the
grouse-have followed the forests
in their downfall; the turkey, the
prairie hen and aquatic game birds
AS the ducks, geese and a great
variety Of shore birds, have III places
been extirpated, aid in general,
are few IN comparison totheir mum
bers a century ago. The song birds
have doubtless held their own, and
in not a few instances have certain
~ increased; the agricultural de
velopment OF the country being, on
the whole, favorable to their vel
fare. although they suffer at the
hands of nest robbing boys, and
children oflarger growth anxious
to kill something, however slender
the pretext. The graceful terms, or
">ea-swallows," and the helons.
especially the beautifully plnmed
egrets, have fallen prey to fash
ion and the chat trade'to such All
extentthatwheIe fifty years ago the
terms fairly swarmed along our Al
lantic coast they are now mainly
conspicuous by their absence.
Batrlchian and reptilian lite has
also greatly diminished, the former
through the drainage of ponds aud
marshes in the reclamation of
waste lands, the latter through the
almost universal Unborn hatred
OF snakes.
Tile depletion of our inland
streams and lakes and the larger
rivers of fish is simply notorious,
extending even to the marine spe
cies that enter the rivers merely
TO spawn. Nor has marine
life Jared better, as witness the de-
cline of the lobster fisheries, the
actual and very early extirpation
Of the oyster along our northern
coasts and the exhaustion of once
famous clam fats.
Much of the destruction of ami
NAL life WAS simply inevitable.
since wild large game eau not exist
in densely populated district
But eXtirpation has been in many
cases needlessIy FASTENED, as wit