A hunter bagged 100 prairie chickens south of Times Square (1 Viewer)

Circa 1626, 1 English hunter bagged 100 prairie chickens in 1 day south of where Times Square is located today. Times Square was a beaver pond surrounded by red maple trees then. Actually, the birds were heath hens which may be a different species than the prairie chickens, but scientists can't determine this for sure because there aren't any mainland specimens in museums to do a comparative analysis.

http://markgelbart.wordpress.com/2013/05/27/new-york-city-used-to-be-a-hunters-paradise/

New York City used to be a hunter's paradise. The birding must have been spectacular too. Unfortunately, back then, most people shot birds for the hell of it. Oftentimes for supper. The first settlers in New York City, then known as New Amsterdam, were shepherds, but wolves ate all their sheep, so they had to eat whatever they could kill or buy from the Indians.

Hundreds of ospreys and eagles nested on The Narrows Cliffs. The new immigrants complained they couldn't sleep because of all the noise from the ducks and geese. They also complained that a wall of swans blocked their view of the Hudson River.

They didn't know how lucky they were.

Indeed they were.......but unfortunately it's all still going on today, nearly 400yrs later! At least back then they had the 'excuse' of knowing no better, that bird numbers were probably thought to be boundless, now we know it's a very different story and are still going at it. There are some glimmers of hope, but after such a long time we've learned so little.....

Wow, it would have been nice to see it back then!!!!! On my dad's side of the family they settled here in New Amsterdam around 1600 and lived it.

Mike