CHAPTER V. 



MAMMALS. 



Nearlv fifty well duflned species, aud a uuiuber of 

 subsi)ecies, varieties or races of four-footed wild aui- 

 nials are found in Pennsylvania. The Bison or Buffalo 

 has long since been exterminated; the last American 

 Elk or Wapiti was taken about thirty-five years ago in 

 Elk county, and the Beaver, a valuable and harmless 

 fur-bearing animal, is also extirpated. There seems 

 to be little room for doubt that the North American 

 Wolf, the Canada Lynx, or "Loup Cervier," as it is 

 called by the French Canadians, and the Panther are 

 no longer to be found in this State. 



•■NEW FACES WIUv MEET US." 



Future investigations of our modem naturalists, 

 some of whom delight to disco\er and name new 

 "races," will, no doubt, if instituted with proper indus- 

 try, materially augment the number given above. A 

 Seal taken two 3'ears ago in the Delaware river at Ches- 

 ter City, Delaware county, was an accidental straggler. 

 Two Leopards, a Tiger, several Wolves, Coyotes, 

 Prairie Dogs, a Badger, and Hares, which have been 

 captured, according to different reports received dur- 

 ing the past four or five years, were, of course, escaped 

 captives, and they cannot properly be included in the 

 mammalian fauna of Pennsylvania. 



