Chesapeake Wildlife: Stories of Survival and Loss

When Captain John Smith sailed up the Chesapeake Bay in 1608, he discovered a land so rich in wildlife that numbers could not begin to tell the whole story. The abundances of birds blackened the sky. Meat-eating wolves and mountain lions had so much game at their disposal that they didn't bother the caged livestock. Deer could be easily killed ten or fifteen at a time by the native tribes, using primitive tools. The wildlife was so abundant that it was no wonder generations of Europeans—used …