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Fauna

Fauna

The collapse of industrial civilization has not restored the North American ecosystem to some pristine earlier state. Human activity had already altered it too thoroughly by the time of the Fall. Instead, wilderness has returned in strange combinations: native animals recovering as cities and farmland retreat, invasive species expanding into abandoned territory, domestic animals going feral, and occasional populations descended from escaped zoo and exotic animals.

Bison once again roam parts of the Great Plains, but may share their range with feral cattle, wild hogs, and even lions descended from animals that escaped captivity during the collapse. Coyotes and other adaptable predators have expanded rapidly into territory once occupied by humans. Packs of feral dogs are common around ruined settlements, although their behavior toward humans varies considerably.

Some rivers and lakes have recovered surprisingly well. The disappearance of heavy industry and large-scale agriculture removed many continuing sources of pollution, allowing fish and other aquatic animals to return to waterways where they had become rare. This does not mean that the water is safe. The collapse occurred after decades of largely unrestricted industrial dumping, and before any effective nationwide environmental cleanup effort could take place. Abandoned mines, factories, refineries, chemical works and waste dumps continue to contaminate soil and groundwater long after the machinery has stopped.

A green landscape is therefore not necessarily a healthy one.

Experienced travelers pay attention to the animals. An absence of wildlife may indicate contamination, but so can an unusual abundance of sick or malformed animals. Local knowledge is often more useful than appearances; a creek may look perfectly clean while everyone living nearby knows not to drink from it.

Jackalopes

Jackalopes are real, although not quite in the manner suggested by old postcards.

The name is commonly applied to rabbits suffering from a transmissible disease which produces large, hard, horn-like growths, particularly around the head. An occasional jackalope is merely an unfortunate animal. Finding several in the same area is regarded as a warning sign.

Whether pollution actually causes the disease is disputed. What matters to most travelers is that large jackalope populations are frequently found around places with other environmental problems. The animals have consequently become an informal indicator of contaminated ground.

Seeing a rabbit with horns is interesting.

Seeing six means don't drink the water.

Other Wildlife

Wild hogs are among the most troublesome animals in the warmer parts of the continent. Intelligent, aggressive when threatened, omnivorous and extremely adaptable, they thrive around abandoned farms and settlements.

Feral cattle can form substantial herds. These should not be confused with domestic livestock merely because their ancestors were cattle. Animals several generations removed from human handling can be dangerous, particularly bulls and cows protecting calves.

Large native predators have also expanded their ranges. Bears, mountain lions, wolves and alligators are encountered in places where they had been rare or absent for generations. Most avoid humans when possible, but they have also had a generation to become less accustomed to regarding humans as the dominant animal in every landscape.

Escaped exotic animals complicate matters further. Most zoo animals simply died during the collapse, but some escaped or were deliberately released. A few found suitable habitat and breeding partners. Consequently, stories about lions on the Plains or strange antelope along an abandoned highway should not automatically be dismissed.

Fearsome Critters

Stories of stranger creatures are common wherever people gather.

Lumber camps tell of hidebehinds. Travelers in the Northwest report enormous hairy men watching from the woods. Hoop snakes are periodically seen rolling down hills. Enormous birds are blamed for missing livestock. Old mines, factories and forests acquire their own local monsters with remarkable speed.

Naturalists generally dismiss these creatures as folklore, mistaken animals, deliberate hoaxes, or stories improved through repeated telling. They are probably right.

The distinction can be difficult to establish with the equipment available to most people. If something large and hairy attempts to carry off a farmer's daughter, is shot in the face, runs into the woods, and leaves blood behind, there may be no practical way to determine whether the attacker was an unknown animal, an unusually large man wearing a filthy fur coat, or something else entirely.

For most people, the distinction is academic. Whatever it was, shooting it worked.

No authenticated specimen of a fearsome critter is known to exist. This has not noticeably reduced the number of sightings.