Extinct Wild Animals in Wisconsin. 257 



Eacine and Walworth counties as late as 1848. Thej have been 

 caught as far north as Waukesha, and one near Madison in 1872, 

 since which time I have not heard of any being taken. I am told 

 that a few are still found in Grant county. Thej will soon be 

 exterminated, no doubt. The last wild turkeys, Meleagris Oal- 

 lopavo^ in the eastern part of the state, was in the fall of 1846, at 

 which time a few were discovered near Eacine. They were hunted 

 with such vigor that the entire number were shot, " The last of 

 the Mohicans." I am told, by Dr. E. B. Wolcott, that turkeys 

 were abundant in Wisconsin previous to the hard winter of 1842-3, 

 when snow was yet two feet deep in March, with a firm crust, so 

 that the turkeys could not get to the ground ; they hence became 

 so poor and weak that they could not fly and so were an easy 

 prey for the wolves, wildcats, foxes and minks. The Doctor fur- 

 ther stated that he saw but one single turkey the next winter, and 

 none since. One was shot in Grant county in the fall of 1872. 

 Possibly there are a few yet to be found in this large southwestern 

 county ; if not, then wild turkeys are exterminated in the state of 

 Wisconsin. 

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