1910] FOREST, GAME AND FISH WARDEN. 65 



fortunate fellows in the greater security of forest strongholds to the north and 

 the west. 



So far as the writer is aware, no systematic effort has been made to record 

 collectively the names, distribution and habits of the native mammals of West 

 Virginia except in the case of a briefly annotated list by Thaddeus Surber, 

 of White Sulphur Springs, that was published in the report of the West Vir- 

 ginia Fish and Game Protective Association, for 1909. It is rather surpris- 

 ing that this important branch of zoology has been neglected so long by our 

 West Virginia naturalists. As an opportunity for the scientific investigator 

 and collector the field is full of interest while to the economic nature student 

 it is no less attractive. A large part of the living of the early settler was 

 derived from the meat and furs of wild animals while his crops and flocks 

 were menaced constantly by squirrels, deer, bears, wolves and other wild 

 mammals. Present day conditions have changed the relation which the wild 

 animals formerly bore to man but at the same time they have created new 

 problems of a similar mature. There are many mammals, especially among 

 the rodents, that thrive and multiply in cleared, or partly cleared lands. Some 

 of these have become sources of great annoyance on account of the damage- 

 that they do to cultivated crops; others, by reason of the numbers of tree 

 seeds and nuts which they destroy, must have considerable influence on for- 

 estry conditions; still others devour vast numbers of injurious insects and 

 thus have a beneficial effect on the farm and in the forest. Altogether, both 

 as regards the injuries they do us and the benefits we derive from them, 

 wild mammals have had and continue to have an important part in shaping 

 conditions under which men live, especially in agricultural districts. 



For several years the writer has at odd times collected data on this subject- 

 and ventures to publish herewith a list of the known living and recently ex- 

 tinct mammals of the State together with brief notes o,n the different species. 

 The notes record a few original observations and many that are borrowed from 

 other persons. With regard to many species only the most meager information 

 seezns to be obtainable. This paper is published, not with the hope of adding 

 greatly to our present knowledge on the subject, but, rather, to create if 

 possible an interest Avhich will promote hunters, trappers and other observers 

 to report any unusual or interesting occurrence of mammals that may be 

 noticed in any part of the state. The abnormal increase or decrease of any 

 species, the chance occurrence of rare forms, notable injuries done to farm 

 crops or live stock by wild animals are all of interest and should be recorded 

 permanently. It is hoped that the reader of these notes may be sufficiently 

 interested to report any observations along this line to some one who will 

 preserve the notes f^pr the use of future students of our State's biology. 



Virginia Opossum, Did'elpM& virginiana Kerr. 



Common in all parts of the State except in the higher mountain regions. 

 In recent years has invaded the lower part of the Canadian zone, and, with 

 the clearing away of the forests, may ultimately be found over the entire 

 State. My most boreal records are of two killed by Mr. Frank Houchin at 

 Cranberry Glades, Pocahontas county, in the winter of 1'908-09. 



The opossum is valuable for its fur, for food and as a scavenger. It is a 

 robber of birds' nests "and an unwelcome visitor of poultry roosts. On the 

 whole, it may probably be regarded as more beneficial than injurious. 



