The Red Cloud chief., 1901-05-10
NEW YORK'S MENAGERIE
MORE WILD BEASTS IN HER WOODS
THAN IS USUALLY THOUGHT.
Moose, wariti aud Buraio within His
toric Fitness sixteen Carnivorous AMI
mais Thought to Esist $3.50 In
Bounties Earned by One Man.

4 curious popular misrepresentation
seems TO exist concerning the scarcity
uf the wilder animals in New York
state. writes the Albany correspond
cnt of the New York Sun. To judge
from the scnnt space given them In
guide books and other literature rcla-
tive To the natural history Of the state
one might fancy that aside from an
occasional deer or bear the largest and
~ticrccst wild mammal still existing
vas n fox. This IL Ivy no means the
| cnsr. and u brief summary VI our
| fauna nay he Of general interest.
-Four species of hoofcd mammals
have probably existed In this state
within historic times. or these four
the Virginia deer Is the only survivor,
and is still fairly common In parts Of
the state. The moose. nice common
throughout the state. vas cNtcrminat.
ed nj n still earlier date. nc trust
worthy records existing Of live ant
mails being seen since the early part Of
the last century.
Concerning the fourth member of
the order, the American bison. The
evidence IL almost entirely cnniCrtur.
al Dr.. William 4. lioruady thinks
II certain that the bison formerly Wis
tied the salt lakes IN the vicinity uf
Syracuse. Whatever their original
range may have been they seem never
tn have reached the Atlantic coast. aud
never To have been seen in this State
since it's first settlement 10y white
men.
The list Of carnivorous animals is
much longer aud. curiously enough, II
Is not certain that n single species
has been entirely driven out of the
state. though several are. of course.
extremely rare. Sixteen species Of
f~pSh-ca'crs occur within the boundar-
les of New York State. beginning
with the largest. these are: The puma
or American panther. lynx, wildcat,
gray and red foxes, timber wolf, black
bear. otter. skunk. wolverine. mink.
two species of wcnScls. mnrtcn. fisher
on black eat. and rnccoon.
or this list, both species Of wcascls
are still common throughout the state.
The skunk seems to br increasing In
numbers. rs the forests are becoming
cleared, being IN animal of ~ dom.
este habits. II Is still very common
In the southeastern counties. \ few
years ago, when the new buildings for
New York University were being erect
cd neal Fordhnm Heights. wcll within
the present city limits of New York,
several specimens were killed by the
workmcD. The species Is hunted
steadily. its skin furnishing many of
the furs worm, under other names. Of
course.
The mink, which Is also trapped o.
tensiveiy, Is common enough still. In
the highlands, within fifty miles of the
city, the bank of almost every stream
or pond will show tracks Of the mink.
The otter Is becoming scarce. though
a pair has been seen within the past
five years In u small lake about fifty
miles north of New York city.
| The raccoon Is still a common In.
habitaDt OF our wooded districts. ~.
pecially In swampy regions. The
red fox Is well known throughout the
State and seems TO have decreased bu,
little I'm numbers in recent years. The
gray fox Is confined almost entirely to
the southeastern counties. In Orange
County and the adjoining areas II
seems to he more common than the
red species.
The marten. much hunted for It's fur.
IL now practically confined to the
wilder parts Of the Adirondacks.
though Mearns says that only n few
years ago II was said to be an inhabi-
tant of the Catskills. A much larger
and more powerful carnivorc. the fish,
er or black eat, IL still quite common
In certain parts OF the AdirOndacks.
though practically cXtermiuated else.
where throughout the State.
An animal concerning whose Gun,
ming and f%erOcity many may .Ous
tales have been told IL the wolverine
or g%lutton. The last certain records
we have concerning the occurrence
Of this species In the State tells of
the killing of a specimen in Renssr-
laer County by the naturalist, Bach
man, about the year 1871, and Of an,
other in Jefferson County in 1927.
After rejecting the fabulous portions
of the accounts given of this animals
habits the substantial rcsidum Is still
of high interest. Possessed of great
strength, though without great activi
~, II is n particular foe to the trapper
and explorer. Hardly IN expedition
TO The North hut has given MS a record
of the d~epredations committed by this
animal.
Its propensity to steal and hide what
1t cannot dev0ur on the spot makes IL
particularly n nuisance. Caches of
stores ana provisions are torn open.
rifed and their contents secreted; the
fur hunters line of traps Is followed;
any animal found in the traps Is eat
en-, and the traps themselves dragged
of and ~cunningly hidden.
The black bear, once common
throughout the State, still occurs in
the Adirondack and Catskill noun
tains and In the counties near the
eastern end Of the Pennsylvania-New
York boundary line. Considering its
cOmDaratiyp and Clumsiness