Chapter 425: Want to Take a Sniff?

The story of passenger pigeons certainly has a lot to tell.

Originally, Native Americans hunted by using smoke, and after colonists learned this technique, they found it inefficient and upgraded it by burning sulfur directly.

Passenger pigeons liked to flock together when facing threats, and a forest might harbor tens of millions of birds. A single sulfuring could bring down hundreds of thousands.

In one of Audubon's accounts, hunters surrounded a habitat of passenger pigeons covering 300 square kilometers. The poisoned birds fell like snowflakes and even broke the wagons used to transport their carcasses.

Two farmers even drove their herds of pigs over 100 kilometers just to let them feast.

Some hunters, taking advantage of the passenger pigeons' habits, came up with a method: they sewed shut the eyes of one pigeon, tied it to a branch with a string, and set up nets around.