Pliocene to Pleistocene invertebrate fossils are common in Fayette County. Glaciers intruded into the northernmost part of the state. The vertebrates from this interval of time outside of Big Bone Lick include giant beavers in eastern Kentucky and tapirs in Fayette County. Other local wildlife included short-faced bear, bison, elk, lions, mammoths, mastodons, and giant ground sloths. Fossils from animals like these are widespread throughout the state and preserved in a variety of contexts. Among the types of deposits preserving mammals of this age are caves, ponds, river gravel, salt licks, sinkholes, and mineral springs. The Wyandot Indians interpreted trace fossils in Kentucky as being left by the Little People, who were believed to have exterminated the dangerous Witch Buffalo of the early world. The story of the Witch Buffaloes describes them as immense female buffalos as tall as trees whose horns stuck straight out of their foreheads. They were said to have lived around a spring of clean water where Big Bone Lick now stands. The Witch Buffaloes kept the local people and wildlife away from their spring, so the indigenous people couldn't hunt or collect salt from the lick. Then one day the Little People came and killed the Witch Buffaloes, making the area safe. The bones of the Witch Buffalo were left in place by the spring, which later shrank and became bitter. This is how the Wyandot people explained the area's large fossil bones and salty water. The large Pleistocene buffalo fossils of the Ohio River area would have been recognizable as similar but larger relatives of modern buffalo to the local Iroquois and Wyandot people, which may have inspired the legend. Another Native American tale that may have been inspired by the fossils of Kentucky was told by the Iroquois. According to one legend, the first Iroquois war party to cross the Ohio River camped in Kentucky. However, a monster called the furious lizard attacked them and killed all but one warrior, who managed to kill the beast. Although there's no explicit mention of unusual bones in the story, local fossils still may have been an influence on the story's contents. Another Iroquois tale is more explicitly connected to Kentucky fossils; they had a story describing the origins of Big Bone Lick. The Iroquois believe that an Iroquois war party was returning from battles with the Cherokee in the southern US. While on their return voyage, one of their number became too sick to make the homeward journey.