EAMBLES ABOUT HOME. 



CHAPTER I. 



OUR MATVTMAT.S IN GENERAL. 



THE marked changes that have taken place in the 

 surface of our country since its settlement, more than 

 two centuries ago, have naturally had their eifect upon 

 the fauna. This is realized most readily when we com- 

 pare our present meager list of mammals with the goodly 

 array of " might ie beestes " that once roamed through 

 our primeval forests. Even earlier in the Indian or pre- 

 historic times faunal changes occurred, of even greater 

 magnitude than any that have since taken place, for, 

 partly through climatic change, but more through inces- 

 sant persecution, the moose, reindeer, and bison had dis- 

 appeared from New Jersey, and the mastodon had be- 

 come extinct, long before the arrival of the whites. 



The bear, elk, deer, wolf, cougar, and beaver still 

 remained in vast numbers, however ; and, although the 

 Indians were essentially a hunting people, and depended 

 largely upon the product of the chase, yet the many ani- 

 mals that were once common here might have held their 

 own, had not the occupation of the country by the 

 Swedes, and the consequent introduction of fire-arms and 



