Animals
The virgin forests of Perry county afforded ample haunts for all animals characteristic of this latitude. The woods were full of them. The bear was unques- tionably the undisputed monarch of the wilds, as he ambled over our hills and valleys. The panther was a close second in point of rule, as he crouched on the limb of a giant oak, ready to spring upon the timid deer when the latter bounded through the underbrush. Wildcats and catamounts were plentiful. The wolf made the night hideous with his cry. The smaller ani- mals, such as the fox, squirrel, rabbit, raccoon and opossum, fairly swarmed. Wild turkeys made this their feeding ground. Prairie chickens nested and brooded in the tall grass. Pigeons in countless num-39
bers roosted in the tree tops and scores of varieties of other birds twittered and sang and made gay the forest world. In the creeks whole "fleets" of ducks were convoyed by their leader, while in the dark under- brush lay the deadly rattlesnake ready to sound his warning, or the copperhead to strike his fangs into the intruder. The Indian had not destroyed them all and long after the white man came they were far from being scarce.40