Wild Animals and Their Extinction
From 20th Century History of Springfield and Clark County, Ohio by Hon. William A. Rockel
Chicago: Biographical Publishing Co., 1908
That the fertile valleys of Mad River and the Little Miami afforded pasturage for the buffalo and elk, as well as for other herbivorous animals, is not questioned.
While there is no definite knowledge of the time when the buffalo and elk ceased to be inhabitants of our county, the best information that we can get on that subject is that they were last known to be in this part of Ohio about the year 1795. The red deer was known to be here as late as 1843. A bear was killed in Mad River Township in 1810, and a brown bear was found in Green Township as late as 1825. The writer's grandmother, when she was a girl about the year 1820, in driving cows home through the forests saw a she bear and two cubs cross her pathway a short distance away from her. She paid no attention to it and the bear paid no attention to her.
Jesse Demint, son of James Demint, the founder of Springfield, shot a panther on the roads north of Buck Creek, Springfield, Ohio, which measured nine feet in length. The date is not known, but it was not later than 1815, and it was the last panther seen in this vicinity.
Opossums, raccoons, and ground-hogs were found in various places in greater or less numbers. These have not become entirely extinct yet, as occasionally an opossum will be found as well as a "coon." Ground-hogs are more or less frequent. Wild turkeys are known to have existed in this county as late as 1857.
Squirrels were in abundance, the gray squirrel being the one noticed at an early date. The red or fox squirrel came at a later period, probably about 1850. The vigilance of the hunter and the thoughtlessness of the Legislature in permitting them to be killed, have all but exterminated these pretty animals in this county.
The streams and ponds in the spring time of the year always afforded a plentiful sight of wild geese and wild ducks. It is related upon unquestioned authority, that less than seventy-five years ago the wild pigeon came in such great numbers along some of the swamp lands in the northern part of the county for their roosting and resting for the night, that trees were broken down by their weight, and the settler of that time would come to this swamp and kill them with sticks. Until within twenty-five years great flocks of this bird were frequently seen in various places in this county, but such a sight now is a rare one. The quail, or partridge, as it is sometimes called, was also frequently found but is now fast disappearing; unless protected in some way it will not be long until it will be entirely extinct.