In the span of a few generations, settlement, intensifying agriculture, abrupt changes of habitat and unchecked harvest took a heavy toll on Ohio’s native wildlife. Since the last bison was killed near Vesuvius Furnace, mountain lions, beaver, elk, gray wolves, black bears and bobcats were all considered gone by 1850.
While these losses seemed palatable for many, there was public concern for the killing of native songbirds and the legislature moved to protect them.
A non-game protection law was signed in 1857, making it unlawful to kill or injure bluebirds, martins, mockingbirds, swallows, cardinals, catbirds, robins or sparrows on either public lands or upon lands of another…