The Nome daily nugget., 1936-02-07
DFawn by Newman Bumstead

dredths the area of Texas, has 20. With varied habitats to suit the re- quirements of different species; with unlimited breeding places in the cypress ponds, cypress bays, and prairies; with abundant rains in normal years, and with a warm and humid climate, the Okefnokee is veritable frog paradise.
 Let copious showers fall during warm summers day and by nightfall the bedlam of amphibian voices aris- ing from the swamp waters and their tangled margins is beyond description. The field herpetologist's trained ear picks out of the din the shrill peeping of the oak toad, the droning roar of the southern toad. the plainly uttered ''gks" of the cricket frog. the insect like chirp of the little chorus frog, the macline-gun bark of the pine-woods tree frog, the hogshead- humping notes of the Florida tree frog, the deep, hollow roll of the gopher frog. the "clung" of the green frog. the pig-like grunts of the southern bullfrog, the clattering chorus of the southern leopard frog, the hammer strokes of the carpenter frog, and the lambs bleating of the narrowmouthed toad.
 Alligators and Birds.
 Men still living can speak of the times when it appeared as if "a feler could walk across Billys lake on gator backs" To this day the Okefinokee remains perhaps the best stronghold of our famous corrugated saurian. Suwannee lake in particular, where the alligators are protected, provides unequaled opportunities for making intimate studies of the habits of wild individuals.
 Of the approximately 1S0 species of birds recorded in the Okefnokee re. zion, scarcely onehalf remain during the summer and breed. While some of these summer residents move south. ward with the approach of coo! weather in the autumn, their places are more than filled by hardier species coming from the northern states and Canada to find a congenial winter home in the swamp.
 By far the largest mammal of the swamp, and perhaps the most inter. esting, is the Florida bear. From early times it has attracted the swamp hunters-not so much because of any particular value of its hide and flesh as by reason of the thrill that comes from matching wits and strength with so formidable an animal. An addi tional reason for the pursuit of the bear Is its numerous depredations oh the hogs that range through the piney woods and the swamp borders At a hogs prolonged squealing the residents become instantly alert. for 1t generally means that bear has seized the ani. maj and is making off with it toward the depths of the swamp.
 Guns are hurredly lifted from pegs on the cabin walls, the dogs are called together with the hunting horn. and the chase is on.
 For generations the sturdy, self. sufficient. and gifted people of the Oketinokee have led rather isolated
 
 on islands within the swamp and others along its borders. They repre- sent some of the purest Anglo-Saxon stock left in our country. though few of the families have slignl mixture of French Hnguenot and even Seminole Indian blood.
 In ancestry speech, folksongs, and general social ways there is marked affinity hetween the residents of the Oketinckcp and those of the An palachian mountains. In each case there has been comparative isolation tending 10 preserve the cultural herit age from Britain of several centuries ago. The picturesque regional yer nacular contains various clements representing survvas from the Eliza betlan age that have dropped out Of general American usage.