Concerning the European colonists’ attitudes toward wild creatures, we should mention that when they landed in the New World, they were coming from lands where ordinary people had long been banned from hunting in the forests. Since medieval times, the lords and kings had enclosed the woods for their own use. Commoners caught trespassing in the forests faced the usual horrific penalties. As England’s Henry II proclaimed, “He who does wrong in the King’s forest touching his venison shall be blinded and castrated.”