When the first settlers came to this section of the country, they described the land as being covered with innumerable varieties of wild flowers. Since that time, cultivation and drought have changed the picture. Efforts to preserve the native plant life in its natural setting have met with cooperation from Federal and State agencies alike. The reserves that have been established are also sanctuaries for bird and animal life, upon which recent drought and severe winters have had a disastrous effect. Under the auspices of the State game and fish commission, 2,700 acres of land have been set aside as five game and fish farms, while 240,000 acres of privately owned land have been designated as game refuges. The Federal Government has established some 60 sanctuaries on 225,000 acres, of which about 90,000 acres are privately owned. Animal life zones in the State are more marked than are plant life zones. The woods of the Turtle Mountains, at the meeting point of the Canadian and transition zones, abound with wild life of both regions. More than 300 varieties of game and song birds live here, including the Dakota song sparrow, the black-billed cuckoo, the oriole, and the blue jay. In the deserted holes of badgers, foxes, and gophers live those queer prairie birds, the burrowing owls. Grebe, ducks, geese, heron, and occasionally swan inhabit the lakes of the region. Deer, red fox, rabbits, red squirrels and northern chipmunks are common; and at night the bright-eyed, mousy Richardson shrew and the silver-haired bat can be seen. Lynx are occasionally reported. In the Red River Valley and the central prairies of the State, once the scene of buffalo hunts, very little large game is found today. A few buffalo remain in Sully's Hill National Game Preserve, and in the Sheyenne Valley and the Pembina Mountains deer are still found. Game birds abound in this region, however, and with the restoration of their breeding places they are now being propagated in huge numbers on the many reserves. Early travelers in the western part of the State were astonished by the prairie-dog villages which dotted the country. Some of these villages still exist, in the extreme western sections. Their inhabitants are typical of the upper austral zone, as are also the coyotes whose long melancholy wail can be heard across the prairie at twilight or daybreak. Chipmunks, squirrels, gophers and ferrets also make their homes here. Along the Missouri and in the forested areas of the Badlands are both white-tailed and mule deer. The one bird peculiar to the austral zone is the sage-hen; and the American magpie, commonly seen here, is rare in other parts of the State. Birds such as the robin, sparrow, blackbird, swallow, horned lark, and meadow lark are common to the entire State. The lark is one of the early spring comers, and its clear sweet whistle can be heard when the prairies are just beginning to turn green.