Buffalo and red deer were everywhere in sight passing to and fro." But the prairie had its nuisances as well as its wonders of animal life.

From the end of April to the end of July the woods and grass swarmed with ticks (_Ixodes_), which covered the clothes of the Europeans and entered their ears and there caused serious inflammations.

They would in time get such a firm hold by the insertion of their heads into the skin that they could not be removed without pulling the body from the head, which caused a terrible itching lasting for months.

If left alone they adhered to the flesh until they swelled to the size of a musket ball, when they fell off of themselves.

In the summertime gadflies were exasperating in their attacks on men and cattle.