HKLATION OF MAMMAT.S TO EN VI liON M ENT. 



427 



The coyote occupies an anomalous [)()siti()n in thnt it had almost 

 (lisnj^pcMrcd f'roin the State thirty years ago, but has again become 

 iiuinerous in many localities during the last decade. The increase 

 in numbers is no (l()ul)t an adaptation to the presence of man. Those 

 individuals that were able to "lie low" and escape observation have 

 remained, while others were killed off or driven out. Although the 

 number of coyotes in Indiana at the present time is no doubt less 

 than before the settlement of the State, the species is to be classed 

 with those that are now increasing. 



The ten remaining species of this group are all small in size and 

 inconspicuous. They are not numerous in cultivated fields, and 

 numbers of them are killed by man, although they inhabit fence 

 rows and thickets everywhere. Direct evidence as to their former 

 number is lacking, but voles, white-footed mice and ground squir- 

 rels have probably increased since the country was first settled be- 

 cause their natural enemies have decreased and their small size 

 and retiring habits enable them to escape coming into serious con- 

 flict with man. The other species were never numerous and have 

 neither increased nor decreased to a marked degree. 



The third group, those whose habitat embraces both wooded and 

 grassy tracts, includes twenty-three species. Two of this group, the 

 elk and deer, have been exterminated on account of their size, their 

 inability to hide and their food value. The timber wolf is prac- 

 tically extinct, as is also the otter. The former was considered an 

 enemy of man ; the latter has been killed for its fur. In thickly 

 settled districts the opossum, rabbit, mink, weasel and two species 

 of skunk have also been partly crowded out and some of them are 

 all but exterminated in certain localities. In other localities where 

 the ground is rough and still wooded most of these species have 

 held their own fairly well. Indeed, there are places in southern In- 

 diana where rabbits are as numerous as they ever were and skunks 

 and weasels have not greatly decreased in number. 



The red fox, which also belongs in this group, has decreased in 

 numbers in recent years in thickly settled regions, but there is 

 strong evidence that the numbers of this species greatly increased 

 when the country was first settled, if, indeed, it was not introduced 

 from Europe. It is well adapted by its cunning to live in close 

 proximity to man, and abounds even where the land is nearly all 

 under cultivation. In this it affords a striking contrast to its cou- 

 sin, the gray fox, which was once abundant, but is now almost ex- 

 tinct. 



The woodchuck and chipmunk have certainly increased in num- 



