80 SECOND BIENNIAL EEPORT [W. VA. 



Years ago the wolf and panther were found in considerable numbers, but 

 are now nearly extinct, very few indeed remaining, and these only in the 

 wildest, unsettled districts of the Yew mountains. 



At the present time the beaver is probably extinct, yet it is just barely pos- 

 sible a few yet linger as " bank beaver" in the most secluded sections, for a 

 few still linger in southwestern Virginia and Western North Carolina. An- 

 other of our most valuable fur bearing animals, the otter, is fast nearing ex- 

 tinction. Next in value to the beaver and otter is that southern representa- 

 tive of the famed sable, the fisher marten or black fox, a few of w r hich still 

 linger in the black spruce belt; they are extremely wary, shun the neighbor- 

 hood of civilization, and are almost entirely arboreal in habits living to a 

 great extent on the red squirrel. 



The large brown mink is still comparatively common, except in the Canadian 

 zone where it is replaced to a great extent by the smaller black mink. Living 

 almost exclusively on fish, w r here it can procure them, it is one of the greatest 

 enemies of our trout, and should be exterminated along all streams inhabited 

 by this game fish. An animal of even more' aquatic habits than the mink is the 

 muskrat, but it does no damage to fish, its principal food consisting of aquatic 

 plants and grasses, with an 1 occasional inroad on the corn field; it is probably 

 most annoying as an expert excavator of pond and ditch embankments. 



This state is cursed with a goodly number of both red and gray foxes, the 

 latter being the most common. With the assistance of the wild cat these two 

 animals destroy more' small game, both furred and feathered, than all the 

 hunters in the state combined. In the eastern section of the state compara- 

 tively little fox hunting is done owing to the scarcity of good hounds, conse- 

 quently the gray fox has multiplied so rapidly that the doom of the rabbit, 

 wild turkey and grouse is foreseen at an early date unless something is done 

 to check them. Before the hounding law went into effect, and sheep owners 

 ' ' had thrown a fit, ' ' so to speak, foxes were held in check, as fox hunters 

 were then not afraid of starting deer if their hounds accidently ran into one's 

 haunts, and then again the law did not stand behind every sheep owner in the 

 state simply because he wanted to kill somebody's hound, for an offense more 

 often fancied than real. 



Kegarding our small mammals not much can be said. They perform their 

 several parts in the balance of nature, some being beneficial, others distinctly 

 harmful to agriculture. Perhaps the most interesting forms are the little 

 striped skunk (our most beautiful animal), the jumping mouse or "jerboa," 

 the lemming mouse, brown shrew (the tiniest of our animals) and the star- 

 nosed mole. 



For publication with these remaks, an annotated list of mammals of the 

 state is attached herewith, which it is hoped will prove of some value as a 

 means of future reference. 



1. Virginia Opossum (Didlephis virginiana). Common over greater por- 

 tion of the state except in the Canadian zone. 



2. Virginia Deer (Odocoileus virginianus). Common in eastern central 

 counties. 



3. Common Cotton-tail Babbit (Lepus floridanus mallurus). Common ev- 

 erywhere, except in sections of the Canadian zone. 



