History of Arkansas Wildlife
By MARY ELIADES
Voice correspondent
FIRST PUBLISHED IN THE APRIL 22, 2025, ISSUE OF THE HOT SPRINGS VILLAGE VOICE. REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION.
Kirsten Bartlow, Watchable Wildlife Coordinator for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, was back by popular demand for a recent presentation on “The History of Arkansas Wildlife” to HSV Audubon members and guests. The Audubon monthly programs are cosponsored by the POA Parks and Recreation Department.
Bartlow has been with Game and Fish for 25 years, and said, “Wildlife has always been my thing.”
Bartlow said the earliest European visitors to present-day Arkansas were the Spanish, who came seeking silver and gold in the 1500s with Hernando de Soto; they were not successful in their quest and soon moved on, although some left journals mentioning fish and wildlife.
The French were next, establishing a permanent settlement at Arkansas Post in 1686, led by Henri de Tonti. The French traders traveled the river corridors and conducted the first commercial hunting and trapping operations in Arkansas. Bartlow showed a slide listing some of the prices of furs in the early 1800s: $1.50 to $2 for bear skins, $.25 for raccoon, bobcat and fox skins, $1.25/pound for beaver skins, $.30/pound for deer skins, and $1/gallon for bear oil.
After the 1803 Louisiana Purchase, more settlers, traders, and trappers moved into the area. With population growth came overhunting and many species became extinct. Settlers saw predator species as a threat to livestock, and bounties were offered for dead animals. As early as 1837, woodland bison were gone, followed by eastern elk in the 1840s, and passenger pigeons in 1914. In the 1930s, it was estimated that only 500 white-tailed deer remained, as well as 200 turkeys and 25 beavers. Black bears numbered only around 40 in the 1950s.
Bartlow said the timber industry was cranking up around this time and the mentality was “cut out and get out.” Companies built roads and brought in equipment, logged large areas, milled the products, packed up and moved on. No best management practices were ever instituted, and habitats were destroyed.
In 1915 the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission was created, establishing hunting seasons, bag limits, and management practices
Bartlow praised President Theodore Roosevelt for his efforts on behalf of wildlife management, creating the U.S. Forest Service and establishing national forests, national parks, bird reserves, etc. Roosevelt was responsible for setting aside 230 million acres of public lands in the United States. These federal efforts set “a big movement afoot in Arkansas.”
Bartlow said the reintroduction of the black bear in Arkansas was one of the most successful programs of its kind in the United States. She added that white-tailed deer number “one million plus” now.
She said, “We have to continue to be vigilant,” especially in light of increasing habitat loss, climate change, abundance of invasive species, etc.
Bartlow is well known for her collection of animals pelts and did not disappoint her audience.
She started the show-and-tell with two beaver pelts – outer and inner fur – and said, “Beaver are what drove the westward expansion.” They were a keystone species and created habitats for other animals. Beaver pelts were used for hats, and Bartlow said the origin of the term “mad as a hatter” came from the use of mercury in the production of felt, which poisoned many an early hatmaker.
Bartlow said beavers are interesting creatures, with the “ever-growing teeth and clear eyelids,” which help them see underwater, as well as the production of scented castoreum from castor sacs. Bartlow said castoreum is still used in perfume production. Beavers are “family oriented,” and offspring may stick around and help with the next generation.
Arkansas once had a large population of black bears, even leading to the nickname “The Bear State,” but they were hunted almost to extinction. Bartlow said they “hung on” in the lower White River area and, later, Canadian black bears were released into the Ozarks and Ouachita Mountains. Asked if the bears are migratory, Bartlow said babies are born in the winter and stay with the mothers for a year; they then den together during the next winter, and when spring comes, males are booted out to find new territory and females share territory with the mother.
Possums were up next, and Bartlow said they are the only marsupials in the U.S. The gestation period is 13 days, and then 25 are born in five minutes. Bartlow said the mother only has 13 nipples, “so it’s first-come, first-served” for the tiny babies. The babies “ride around for a while, then disperse,” she added. Possums “are the ultimate survivors” – “they’ll eat anything.”
Bartlow displayed a beautiful skunk pelt and said skunks can “shoot” up to 12 feet “like a six-shooter” – six sprays delivered in rapid succession. She also displayed a pelt from a spotted skunk (or civet cat), which resides in the interior highlands.
Bartlow proudly modeled a skunk coat that was given to her and explained that furriers back in the day dyed skunk pelts and called them “Russian sable” as a marketing device.
The only natural predators of skunks are great horned owls; Bartlow said she had once worked at a rehab center and often the owls that came in smelled terrible from their encounters with skunks.
Skunks are one of the three “top” species that carry rabies, along with bats and foxes.
A member of the audience asked about raccoons, which Bartlow called “trash pandas” or “dumpster pandas,” while admiring their “very tactile hands” and interesting food washing behavior.
Gray foxes are predominant in Arkansas, although Bartlow said Europeans brought some red foxes to Arkansas. She further explained that early fox-hunting Europeans were disappointed in the hunt for gray foxes, because they easily escaped into trees and the hunt was quickly over.
Arkansas was historically home to red wolves, but they were gone by the early 1940s. Coyotes moved in to fill the niche and have survived and thrived.
Bartlow said feral hogs have become “Enemy Number One” because of their threat to ground-nesting birds and riparian areas, and the many diseases they carry.
Asked about cougar sightings, Bartlow said, “We have cougars in Arkansas.” The cougars came down from the Dakotas and, to date, only males have been identified in the state.
Bartlow is a very entertaining and knowledgeable speaker, and the audience showed its appreciation with a long and interesting question-and-answer session at the end of the program. She took notes on questions for which she didn’t have ready answers and promised a follow-up email after doing some research.
Next month Audubon, together with POA Parks & Recreation, is hosting “Wings” on May 8, a fun-filled day of activities at the Balboa Pavilion from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Food, music, games, raffle, a trail hike and bird walk bingo are all on the agenda, with the highlight of the day being a live raptor release over the lake.