Re: NANFA--Paddlefish and gar, 1908

Todd Crail (farmertodd_at_buckeye-express.com)
Wed, 18 Feb 2004 11:56:01 -0500

> Wow. Two things strike me here. One -- the amazing number of fishes that
> lived in our waters compared to today. And two -- just how quickly and
> mindlessly humans have depleted our aquatic fauna. This reminds me of
> something I read a few months back, and which I've been thinking about
ever since:
[Todd: That's a great quote. I'll have to look up that book.]

[Fauna period. Below are some excerpts from a history of Lucas county.
It's hard to immagine bear, wolves and mountain lions on the very same land
as where they put together Jeep Grand Cherokees in our current era.]

-Snip--
By way of introduction, Judge Potter said, that when he came here, in 1835,
the entire region, North of a line drawn from the head of Lake Erie to the
Pacific Ocean, was one unbroken hunting ground, the settlements in the
intervening States interfering very slightly with the game. This region then
contained a greater variety and greater abundance of valuable game than ever
did any other section of the globe in the same latitude, foremost of which
were the Buffalo, the Grizzly Bear, the Caribou, the Elk and the Stag. *In
this Valley* were the Red Deer, Bears, Wolves, Panthers, Lynx, Wild Cats,
Foxes and Turkeys, with an almost infinite variety of small game.

-Snip--
Small game was abundant-Prairie Chicken, Partridge, Quail, Woodcock and
Snipe. He had seen on Summit street near Oak, over 500 Prairie Chickens at
one time; and thousands together on the open lands within six miles of
Toledo. {Todd Note: The "open lands" are the Oak Openings I continue to
mention and live on the edge of. Prairie chicken and partridge are
extirpated, the rest are very uncommon but have been seen in remnants and
restoration efforts}

-Snip--
Mr. Lanier stated that he had known of 27 barrels of fish being taken by one
trap in a single night above Fort Winchester, on the Auglaize. He said :
"Nature has destined the waters of this Lake to supply this country with
fish," and asked: "Will the people of Ohio be so neglectful of their own
interests, as to let this valuable branch of business be neglected (or fall
into the hands of the British), and still continue to import the few fish we
now use from the Eastern States?" A writer, under date of Chillicothe, Ohio,
June 9, 1813, says, " the quantity of fish taken at Fort Meigs was most
surprising. Some days there were not less than 1,000 to 1,500 of an
excellent kind {Todd note: probably walleye and lake sturgeon} taken with
the hook, within 300 yards of the Fort." The writer said : "No one can visit
this spot and not be charmed by its appearance and the advantages of its
situation."

If you'd like to read the whole thing, hop on over to:
http://www.heritagepursuit.com/Lucas/LucasLocalityChapIV.htm

I don't think Lucas county is anything special either... I implore you to
research your own county and locale to find what wonders existed, still
exist, etc! :)

Todd
It's never too late to have a happy childhood.
http://www.farmertodd.com
/-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
/"Unless stated otherwise, comments made on this list do not necessarily
/ reflect the beliefs or goals of the North American Native Fishes
/ Association"
/ This is the discussion list of the North American Native Fishes Association
/ nanfa_at_aquaria.net. To subscribe, unsubscribe, or get help, send the word
/ subscribe, unsubscribe, or help in the body (not subject) of an email to
/ nanfa-request_at_aquaria.net. For a digest version, send the command to
/ nanfa-digest-request_at_aquaria.net instead.
/ For more information about NANFA, visit our web page, http://www.nanfa.org