Deer are more abundant than at the first settlement of the country. They increase to a certain extent with the population. The reason of this appears to be that they find protection in the neighborhood of man from the beasts of prey that assail them in the wilderness. Immense numbers of deer are killed every year by the hunters.
Many of the frontier people dress in deer skins, making them into pantaloons and hunting shirts.
The elk has disappeared. A few have been seen in late years, but it is not known that any remain at this time within the limits of the state.
The bear is seldom seen. This animal inhabits those parts of the country that are thickly wooded. The meat is tender and finely flavored, and is esteemed a great delicacy.
Wolves are numerous in most parts of the state. They are very destruc tive to sheep, pigs, calves, poultry, and even young colts. Their most common prey is the deer. When tempted by hunger they approach the farm houses in the night, and snatch their prey from under the very eyes of the farmer.
The fox abounds in some places in great numbers, though, generally speaking, the animal is scarce. It will undoubtedly increase with the popu lation.
The panther and wild cat are occasionally found in the forests.
The beaver and otter were once numerous, but are now seldom seen except on the frontiers.
There are no rats except along the large rivers where they have landed from the boats.
Wild horses are found ranging the prairies and forests in some parts of the state. They are found chiefly in the lower end of the American Bottom.
The gray and fox squirrels often do mischief in the corn fields, and the bunting of them makes fine sport for the boys.
The gopher is a singular little animal about the size of a squirrel. It burrows in the ground and is seldom seen, but its works make it known. The polecat is very destructive to poultry.
The raccoon and opossum are very numerous and extremely troublesome to the farmer, as they not only attack his poultry, but plunder his corn fields. They are hunted by boys, and large numbers of them are destroyed. The skins of the raccoon pay well for the trouble of taking them, as the fur is in demand.
Rabbits are very abundant and in some places extremely destructive to the young orchards and to garden vegetables. Young apple trees must
be protected at the approach of winter by tying straw or corn stalks around their bodies for two or three feet in height, or the bark will be stripped off by these mischievous animals.
The ponds, lakes, and rivers, during the spring and autumn and during the migrating season of water fowls, are literally covered with swans, pelicans, cranes, geese, brants, and ducks of ad the tribes and varieties. Many of these fowls rear their young on the islands and sand bars of the large rivers. In the autumn, multitudes of them are killed for their quills, feathers, and flesh.
The prairie fowl is seen in great numbers on the prairies in the summer and about the corn fields in the winter. This is the grouse of the New York market. They are easily taken in the winter, and when fat are excellent for the table.
Quail are taken with nets in the winter, by hundreds in a day, and furnish no trifling item in the luxuries of the city market.
Bees are to be found in the trees of every forest. Many of the frontier people make it a prominent business after the frost has killed the vegetation to hunt them for the honey and wax, both of which find a ready market. Bees are profitable stock for the farmer, and are kept to a considerable extent.
Poisonous reptiles are not so common as in unsettled regions of the same latitude where the country is generally timbered. Burning the prairies undoubtedly destroys multitudes of them.
Animal life of today.---The present state of wild animal life in Illinois is well set forth in the Annual Reports of the Game and Fish Conservation Commission for 1913-16. The following extracts are taken from these reports: There are very few wild animals in the state of Illinois that are in the class of game animals or fur-bearing animals. At the present time there are a few deer in the southern part of the state. In the Sangamon River bottoms there is a herd of wild deer, about thirty-five in number. These deer, originally owned by private parties, were turned loose a few years ago, and they have gradually increased in numbers.