2. Rich Women’s Demand for Snowy Egret Feathers Caused Near Extinction for the Bird
The wealthy people of the Gilded Age had more money than they knew what to do with; furthermore, they really didn’t care about anyone or anything, especially not the fate of wildlife. Case in point: the snowy egret, whose wispy, luminously white feathers during breeding season were craved by the fashion-conscious women who were determined to leave their marks on New York’s social scene. They wore the feathers in their hats, on their dresses, on their fans, and even in their home décor.
But in order to obtain the feathers, hunters wouldn’t catch the birds, pluck the feathers, and then let them go. No, they would kill the birds and then skin them. Worse yet, because the desired feathers were only available during the breeding season, the egrets were often killed just before they laid their eggs. Sometimes, they were shot just after the eggs hatched, which meant that the young had to fend for themselves. The snowy egret was hunted so voraciously that it became endangered and would have become extinct, were it not for the work of some Gilded Age women who began a campaign to save the bird. The Migratory Bird Act of 1913 gave it the chance to rebound, and the snowy egret is still in existence today.