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NUMBER 123             JULY 10, 1922


OCCASIONAL PAPERS OF THE MUSEUM OF ZOOLOGY


UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN

ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN      PUBLISHED BY THE UNIVERSITY




THE MAMMALS OF WASHTENAW COUNTY, MICHIGAN

BY NORMAN A. WOOD


Three natural physiographic divisions cross Washtenaw County from
northwest to southeast. The northwestern part of the county is occupied
by the rough interlobate moraine of loose-textured soil, the Interlobate
Lake District; a broad Clay Morainic Belt occupies most of the central
part of the county; and in the southeastern corner of the county is
found a low Lake Plain, once the bed of glacial Lake Maumee.

The Interlobate Lake District has a conspicuous system of moraines,
making up a most irregular land surface. Steep knolls 100 to 200 feet in
height are closely associated with basins, which are often deep, and
some of which are occupied by lakes. Small, undrained depressions occur
everywhere, producing thousands of acres of swamp and marsh land.

The Clay Morainic Belt occupies the region from just below Portage Lake
to Ypsilanti. It is composed of glacial till plains and clay moraines
extending from northeast to southwest. This area includes the highest
land in the county, one hill exceeding and several approaching 1100 feet
in altitude. Most of the area is high and rolling.

The old beach, marking the limits of the Lake Plain District, runs
northeast from Ypsilanti to the county line above Cherry Hill, and
southwest through Stony Creek to a point on the county line about eight
miles west of Milan.

The native upland forests of the Interlobate Moraine District were
composed chiefly of red, yellow, and white oak, with some smooth-bark
hickory and sugar maple and a few shag-bark hickories. Here were also
large areas of creeping juniper and a few small patches of ground
hemlock (yew). On the flood-plains of the rivers and lakes were quite
extensive swampy forests of soft maple, black ash, and white elm. Swamp
oak and whitewood grew commonly in the drier situations toward the edge
of the swamp conditions. The red-bud and red cedar were characteristic
of the river banks. White pine probably never grew in the county,
although a few trees occur on the south bank of the Huron River near
Hamburg, a few miles north of the county line.

Tamarack bogs, some of large size, are abundant in the Interlobate
Moraine District and occur commonly also in the Clay Morainic District,
but are practically wanting in the Lake Plain District.

The Clay Morainic District was originally dominated by forests of oak
and hickory. Several kinds of oaks, white ash, and several species of
hickories, with shag-bark most characteristic, were most abundant. Mixed
with these were elm, beech, sugar maple, black walnut, and butternut. On
the higher ground many stands of quaking aspen were found. The forest
was quite dense and little underbrush normally occurred. Tamarack bogs
were common, and a small stand of black spruce occurred at the edge of
Independence Lake. There are few flood-plains along the Huron River in
this district, but along the river's edge were a few cottonwoods and
sycamores, and many willows, some of large size. On the steep bluffs
along the river was often a heavy growth of red cedar; and some large
areas of procumbent juniper occurred. In this district were several
open, level, sandy plains covered with a scattered growth of white and
bur oaks and an undergrowth of hazel brush. These were known to the
pioneers as "oak openings" or "plains." Lodi Plains in Lodi Township,
Bur Oak Plains in Manchester Township, Sharon Plains in Sharon Township,
and Boyden's Plains in Webster Township were the largest of these
natural openings in Washtenaw County.

On the low lands of the Lake Plain District great forests of black ash,
elm, whitewood, soft maple, red-bud, swamp oak, and bur oak were found
by the early settlers. Large sycamore trees were found along the river
banks, these following the Huron River up a short distance beyond Ann
Arbor and occurring all along the Raisin and Saline rivers. The paw paw
and pin oak were found rarely in the southeastern part of the county.
Along the small streams in this district were extensive marshes which
were evidently old beaver meadows. About the edges of the marshes were
fringes of tamaracks.

At the beginning of the nineteenth century Washtenaw County was an
unbroken wilderness, and deer, wolves, bear, and other large and small
fur-bearing animals were abundant. A few white trappers were in the
region, and the Indians frequently passed through on the old Tecumseh
Trail to Detroit, where they went to trade.

In 1809 three Frenchmen established a trading-post at Ypsilanti, where
the Tecumseh Trail crossed the Huron River, and for several years they
traded here with the Indians. In 1823 the first permanent settlement in
the county was made by Benjamin Woodruff and two others at Woodruff's
Grove, not far from the present site of Ypsilanti. A settlement was made
at Ann Arbor in 1824, and many pioneers arrived in the county during the
next few years.

With the coming of the settlers and the clearing of the forests the
natural mammal habitats were greatly altered or destroyed. This,
together with the hunting by the settlers, caused the gradual
disappearance of the larger mammals, such as the cougar, bear, wolf,
lynx, and deer. The clearings of the settlers created new habitats which
were gradually occupied by species better adapted to civilization, such
as the mole, woodchuck, ground squirrel, fox squirrel, and skunk, and
also the house mouse and Norway rat, which were brought in
unintentionally by the settlers.

For sixty-five years I have lived almost constantly in Washtenaw County
and I have seen the latter part of the exploitation of the forests of
the county and the extermination of most of the larger mammals. From my
father, who settled in the county in 1836, and other old pioneers I have
drawn extensively for information about the early mammals of the county.
Much use has also been made of information contained in the Michigan
Historical Collections. The specimens on which the records here are
based are mostly preserved in the Museum of Zoology.

For considerable assistance in the preparation of the manuscript of this
paper I am indebted to L. R. Dice, Curator of Mammals in the Museum of
Zoology, University of Michigan.


LIST OF SPECIES

_Didelphis virginiana virginiana._ Virginia Opossum.--This species is
rare in the county. One was taken by my father, Jessup S. Wood, in 1845,
in Lodi Township. We have later records for Ann Arbor, Dexter,
Manchester, Saline, and Scio Township. The last recorded specimen was
taken by some boys in November, 1921, just south of the Oakland County
line.

February 5, 1912, a trapper took a specimen near Ann Arbor on a night
when the temperature was about 10° F. below zero.

_Scalopus aquaticus machrinus._ Prairie Mole.--The mole was rare or
absent from the county when first settled, but it has gradually
increased and has spread over most of the cultivated lands. It is most
common in sandy or gravelly loams, and is absent from the hard clay
soils. I remember the first appearance of the species on the old Wood
homestead in Lodi Township about 1870. It soon became common.

_Condylura cristata._ Star-nosed Mole.--Although not very rare in this
county, it is seldom seen. We have records for Lodi Township, Ann Arbor,
Webster Township, Ypsilanti, and Chelsea. It prefers low, marshy land
near the water, and much of its food consists of aquatic insects, which
it secures by swimming. It is not as well adapted for burrowing as the
preceding species, so it lives in softer soil.

May 8, 1913, a nest containing six half-grown young was found by Kitt
Cobb in marshy ground beside the Huron River at Portage Lake. The nest
was in a good-sized cavity near the surface of the ground and was lined
with dried grass. This species sometimes comes out on the surface of the
ground, where I have found several individuals in early spring, most of
them dead. February 10, 1907, near Ann Arbor, A. D. Tinker heard one
tunneling in the snow and dug it out.

_Sorex personatus._ Masked Shrew.--In this county the masked shrew is
usually found in sphagnum and tamarack bogs. There are records for a
tamarack bog, three miles south of Ann Arbor, and for Honey Creek, three
miles west of Ann Arbor. I have found it mostly under old logs and in
stumps in rather moist situations.

_Blarina brevicauda talpoides._ Short-tailed Shrew.--Common in swamps,
woodlands, and even in meadows, where it has its own runways and also
uses those of the meadow mouse, on which it largely feeds.

This shrew is diurnal as well as nocturnal, and I have often seen it in
its runways. It is active all winter, and its tunnels may often be seen
in the snow. While trapping in Steere's Swamp, south of Ann Arbor, a
_Synaptomys cooperi_ in a trap was eaten by one of these shrews, which
was later caught in the same trap.

_Cryptotis parva._ Small Shrew.--The first record for the county was
obtained in 1902 at Ann Arbor. In February, 1904, one was found in a
barn three miles east of Ann Arbor. At Portage Lake, in 1916, a house
cat brought two individuals to her kittens on October 29 and 31,
respectively. The specimens taken by me were found in grassy places,
usually where briers and shrubs were intermingled with the grass, but
not in the woods.

_Myotis lucifugus lucifugus._ Little Brown Bat.--Almost every winter
individuals have been found in the building of the Museum of Zoology, at
Ann Arbor, where they have been awakened by the heat long before insects
were flying about. Max Peet took one at Ypsilanti June 6, 1904.

_Myotis subulatus subulatus._ Say Bat.--In 1902 one was found alive in
one of the buildings of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and was
kept in a cage from February 26 to March 6, when it died.

_Lasionycteris noctivagans._ Silver-haired Bat.--A female which seemed
to have an injured wing was picked up at Ann Arbor by A. G. Ruthven,
June 13, 1910. It contained two large embryos. This species is rare in
this county.

_Eptesicus fuscus fuscus._ Large Brown Bat.--Common at Ann Arbor and
Ypsilanti. It is often found in buildings in winter. We have records for
Ann Arbor every month except September, October, and November. Of all
the bats this one is the most common about dwellings, and it is the one
that most often enters houses at night in search of insects. Perhaps it
is attracted by the light, as I have often seen it feeding about the
street lights.

_Nycteris borealis borealis._ Red Bat.--Common at Ann Arbor, and there
is one record for Ypsilanti. At Ann Arbor there are records from April
30, in 1919, to July 4, in 1921. Also one was taken in November, 1917.
On June 12, 1903, a female with two young attached to the underside was
found hanging in a tree in Ann Arbor. The young were naked and blind and
quite small. June 10, 1908, another female was found in a similar
situation with three half-grown young attached.

_Nycteris cinerea._ Hoary Bat.--We have records for Ann Arbor,
Bridgewater Township, Manchester, and Portage Lake. Our dates run from
September 5 to October 15; but in December, 1891, one was found in a
barn and was kept alive for several weeks.

_Ursus americanus._ Black Bear.--Formerly common, and one of the last of
the larger animals of the county to be exterminated. The last one known
to be in the county was killed in October, 1875, in the big marsh west
of Saline. Mr. George Inman, one of the pioneers of Lodi Township, told
me that he had seen one just killed a few miles west of Ypsilanti in
1852. One was killed in Pittsfield Township in 1835. Black or brown is
the normal color in this state, but I have heard of one albino which was
taken in Bay County not many years ago.

_Canis lycaon._ Timber Wolf.--When the county was first settled the
wolves were so destructive that it was difficult to keep any domestic
animals. As late as 1840, 30 sheep were killed for a neighbor of my
father's in Lodi Township; and another neighbor was himself chased by a
pack in the winter of 1836. In October, 1834, a large wolf was seen by
Mr. S. P. Allen near Ypsilanti. In looking over the county records I
find that in 1837 a bounty of five dollars each was paid to four
residents for eight wolf scalps; in 1838 eight more bounties of eight
dollars each were paid; and up to 1839 bounties to a total amount of
$178 had been paid. The records for the next twelve years are not
available, but as late as 1853 two wolf bounties of eight dollars each
were paid to residents of the county. Some of these probably refer to
coyotes. We have one record of a black wolf for the county.

_Canis latrans._ Brush Wolf, Coyote.--In the History of Washtenaw
County[1] there is a full-page picture of hunting the prairie wolves in
an early day, which shows men on horseback in oak openings, rounding up
the wolves. In the same volume is an account by Mrs. H. L. Noble, saying
that the wolves would "come at evening and stay about the cabin all
night, keeping up a serenade that would almost chill the blood in my
veins." These were no doubt coyotes. In 1905 I mounted a large male,
weighing 45 pounds, which had been shot in Sharon Township, March 10, by
Mr. Keeler. Another is reported to have been seen in the same township
in 1910.

[Footnote 1: History of Washtenaw County, Michigan, p. 67, 1881.]

_Vulpes fulva._ Red Fox.--The early settlers report the red fox as being
quite common and destructive to small lambs, poultry, and game. Owing to
its cunning this species has been able to live and increase in spite of
much hunting and trapping. It is nocturnal as a rule, though I have seen
them often in the daytime catching mice on the marshes. In April, 1883,
a den was found in Lodi Township, and by careful watching the young
could be seen playing about the entrance to the den while waiting for
their mother to bring them food. The young in this den were moved to
other dens every week or so, and to my certain knowledge were moved
three times before they were dug out by a friend and myself. One
transfer was for more than one-third of a mile. There were six of them
about the size of small cats. These dens seem to have been woodchuck
holes dug out and enlarged. Some were in hillsides, but some were on
level ground. The den dug out was an old woodchuck hole. It extended
about 25 feet into a bank, with a large nest chamber at the end about
six feet from the top of the ground. A second entrance to the tunnel led
down from the top of the bank and joined the tunnel about 12 feet from
the nest. Some dried grass was noted in the nest chamber. A black fox
was taken in Pittsfield Township in 1878, and I have heard of another
being seen at a later date.

_Urocyon cinereoargenteus cinereoargenteus._ Gray Fox.--This small fox
persisted in this county for many years. I saw one in Lodi Township in
1866 which had been treed by a dog. In October, 1866, two were shot near
Saline by J. H. Bortle. The last one known to me in the county was
taken in Steere's Swamp, near Ann Arbor, in the winter of 1882. The
species is very local, living in swamps and woods, which it rarely
leaves. It has a sharp bark which is heavier than that of the red fox.

_Procyon lotor lotor._ Raccoon.--In this county the raccoon was formerly
very common, according to the early settlers, and did much damage to
poultry and to the corn when in the milk. In return it served as food
and its skin was both an article of dress and a medium of exchange, a
coon-skin being valued at 25 cents. It was still very common in Lodi
Township in 1870-80 and furnished the sport of "cooning," when it often
led both dogs and men a tiresome chase through woods and swamps and
often escaped to its den in some big hollow tree.

When taken young it makes an interesting but very mischievous pet, and
cannot be allowed loose in the house. I once had three as pets, and
nearly all kinds of food given them were treated to a bath before eaten.
It is omnivorous in its food habits and eats all kinds of fish, flesh,
eggs, apples, berries, and is especially fond of green corn. On this
food the coon grows fat, and when winter comes curls up in some den tree
and sleeps through the winter, sometimes alone, and sometimes with
several others. I have known of seven being found in a big hollow tree
in Lodi Township. The latter part of the winter, during the warm spells,
I have found tracks in the snow and have followed the tracks for miles
as they visited other dens. The species is not strictly nocturnal, and I
have often seen coons sunning themselves on limbs and have also found
them on the ground feeding in the daytime. I once found a small one in
the water of a little brook, where it was nearly drowned and was
uttering a shrill, piteous cry. It had probably fallen from a log into
the stream.

The young grow slowly and generally stay with the parents until a year
old. They do not obtain their full growth until about the third year.
They vary much in size, weighing from 15 to 40 pounds. One caught near
Ann Arbor in November, 1905, weighed 30 pounds, and the blanket of fat
under the skin weighed five pounds. The heaviest Michigan raccoon known
to me was taken near Edmore, Montcalm County, May 10, 1904, and weighed
56 pounds.

The call is a shrill tremulo cry, almost like a whistle, and on a still
night may be heard for a long distance. When caught by a dog it
sometimes utters a snarling cry, from rage or pain. The color varies in
shades of gray and black, and we have a dozen records of white or albino
raccoons from this county, and half that number of black or melanistic
ones.

_Mustela pennantii pennantii._ Fisher.--Henry Wilson, an old pioneer of
Dexter, told me that he killed a large male in February, 1862, near
Independence Lake, Webster Township. Other old trappers report that it
has been taken in the county, but are not able to give exact data.

_Mustela noveboracensis noveboracensis._ New York Weasel.--This species
is quite commonly distributed over the county even now. One summer day
in Lodi Township I heard the excited squawking of a setting hen that was
confined in a box coop; on raising the cover the hen was seen to have a
weasel attached to her leg. With a stick I attempted to hit the weasel,
which was dragged about by the hen, but only succeeded in causing it to
run under a shed, from which place it soon stuck its head out of a hole.
I again tried to hit it with a stick, but it always dodged the blow.
Finally I went to the house for the gun, and when I returned found the
weasel out chasing the hen again. A shot soon finished it.

In this county only about 75 per cent of the weasels change to the white
coat in winter.

_Mustela vison mink._ Northeastern Mink.--In this county the mink has
been so closely trapped that it is almost, if not quite, exterminated in
some townships where it was formerly common. The mink is not so
perfectly aquatic as the otter, but it also travels on land quite fast
and far. I have found them a half-mile from water hunting for mice,
birds, and even cottontails. I once shot one in Lodi Township that came
to the chicken house and killed a fully grown hen, which it dragged a
rod or so away, where it ate all it wanted. Another time I followed on
the snow one that had run five miles in a night, and finally found it
only a short distance from the place it started from. The mink is
generally nocturnal, but I have often found it out on dark days. Once
while fishing I saw one catch and carry away a good-sized trout. It is a
poor climber, but once while hunting raccoons a dog chased one up a
tree, where it was shot from a limb 20 feet above the ground. Albinos
are rare, but we have in the Museum collections a mounted specimen which
was taken at Ann Arbor. Melanistic specimens are rarer still, and I have
seen but one, which was caught in Lodi Township in 1875.

_Mephitis nigra._ Eastern Skunk.--The skunk was common when the first
settlers arrived in this county. With the clearing of the forests it
became abundant. Altogether I have seen hundreds about my old home in
Lodi Township. Here in one winter, about 1870, more than 30 were taken
in one trap under an old barn.

Although it usually passes most of the winter months in a state of
hibernation, it occasionally comes out during warm spells and wanders
from one den to another. I have seen its tracks every winter month. It
is mainly nocturnal, but it also travels in the early evening and later
morning, and I once saw a mother and six young pass through the dooryard
just at dusk. The skunk is not a climber, as a rule, but I have found it
a few feet up the inside of small hollow trees. Once I saw one enter a
small stream and swim across; it was not forced, but went into the water
of its own volition.

_Taxidea taxus taxus._ Badger.--The early settlers state that the badger
was found in this county, but was not common. We have records from 1883
to 1919, including Saline Township, Superior Township, Lyndon Township,
Ann Arbor, Chelsea, and Bass Lake. The species hibernates, but I have
known it to come out on the snow, and I have records for every winter
month.

_Lutra canadensis canadensis._ Canada Otter.--Formerly the otter was not
rare in all the river systems of the county, and we know of a number
being taken on the Huron, Raisin, and Saline rivers from 1856 to 1910,
but none have been reported since that date. Three were seen and one
shot by Edwin Hawley near Munith, Jackson County, not far from the
county line, March 25, 1909. One was reported seen in a small mud lake
in Lodi Township in 1910. At this same lake in 1886 two were taken by J.
H. Bortle, of Saline. In May, 1908, John Staebler, a farmer, saw one at
close range near Fleming Creek, two miles east of Ann Arbor, and in the
spring of 1900 he saw another near the same place.

_Felis cougar._--L. D. Watkins, of Manchester, records this animal as
often passing through Manchester, about 1835, generally going southwest;
the last one was seen in 1870. Hon. Henry S. Dean, of Ann Arbor, stated
that one was reported in the county by hunters in 1838. Miss Julia
Dexter Stannard[2] tells of a panther that in 1830 chased her mother at
dusk one evening while she was returning home, to Webster Township, from
Ann Arbor on horseback. The panther followed almost to the house, when
the lights in the window scared it off.

[Footnote 2: _Mich. Pioneer Coll._, v. 28, p. 565.]

_Lynx canadensis._ Canada Lynx.--L. D. Watkins reports that he killed
one in this county in 1842, and Hon. Henry S. Dean, of Ann Arbor, told
me that old hunters reported it in the county in 1838.

_Lynx ruffus ruffus._ Bob-cat, Bay Lynx.--This species was always more
common in the county than the Canada lynx, but it has been extinct here
for fifty years. The early settlers often recorded it as common. In 1850
J. S. Wood, of Lodi Township, treed one with a dog. In 1870 Henry
Wilson, of Dexter, saw one near Independence Lake.

_Peromyscus maniculatus bairdii._ Prairie Deer Mouse.--Specimens were
taken September 28, 1909, in open fields near Manchester by F. M. Gaige.
In the fall of the same year Dr. J. B. Steere took it on the big marsh
four miles south of Ann Arbor; this, he states, is his first record for
the species. In 1920 it was taken near Cavanaugh Lake, and is numerous
near Ann Arbor and Portage Lake. It probably formerly occurred on the
open prairies and oak openings, but now it is found in open fields and
in grassy meadows.

_Peromyscus leucopus noveboracensis._ Northern Deer Mouse.--This mouse
is abundant in forests over the county, and is found in adjoining
fields, especially in those containing corn.

_Synaptomys cooperi cooperi._ Cooper Lemming-vole.--In October, 1883,
George B. Sudworth took one near Ann Arbor. February 13, 1903, E. H.
Frothingham found one under a corn shock about four miles south of Ann
Arbor. In a runway in a small tamarack stand in Steere's Swamp, near the
same place, I trapped an adult female and four nearly grown young,
October 8 and 9, 1903. In February, March, and April, 1921, H. B.
Sherman trapped six in a field containing a little brush, a short
distance south of Ann Arbor. A number of their remains were found by J.
Van Tyne in the winters of 1921 and 1922 near Ann Arbor, in pellets of
the long-eared owl.

_Microtus pennsylvanicus pennsylvanicus._ Pennsylvania Vole.--Was
formerly found in beaver meadows, but with the clearing of the forests
it has extended its range to the fields of grass and grain, and has
become the most numerous of all the mammals of the county. Records are
at hand for Ann Arbor, Pittsfield Township, and Portage Lake.

_Microtus pinetorum scalopsoides._ Pine Vole.--July 15, 1921, A. G.
Ruthven found an adult male in the oak-hickory woods on his grounds near
the outskirts of Ann Arbor.

_Fiber zibethicus zibethicus._ Muskrat.--In spite of persistent
trapping, muskrats are still numerous in the county. Records are at hand
for Ann Arbor, Pittsfield Township, Portage Lake, Saline, and Ypsilanti.

_Rattus norvegicus._ Norway Rat.--This injurious rodent became common
soon after the settlement of the county. Its omnivorous food habits and
adaptability have enabled it to increase greatly.

_Mus musculus musculus._ House Mouse.--The house mouse did not reach
Washtenaw County until several years after the settlement of the
district. It has become a serious pest, not only to household effects
and stored food, but it has taken to the grassy fields and the woods
bordering grain fields, and is commonly found in shocks of corn. The
amount of damage done by it in this county must be very great.

_Zapus hudsonius hudsonius._ Jumping Mouse.--A few occur in the county.
We have records for Ann Arbor, Portage Lake, and Whitmore Lake. In
October, about 1880, in Lodi Township, a female jumped from a shock of
corn that was pulled over, and when caught, after several jumps of two
feet or more, was found to have three small young attached to her teats.

_Erethizon dorsatum dorsatum._ Canada Porcupine.--The first settlers
found porcupines were common in the county. My father killed one in 1855
in Lodi Township, and the last one known in the county was killed near
Saline in October, 1868, by John H. Bortle.

The porcupine lives on the buds and bark of several species of trees,
and also eats the stems and leaves of water lilies. It is a clumsy and
stupid animal, knowing under natural conditions neither fear nor haste.
Its coat of sharp-barbed quills affords almost complete protection from
nearly all enemies except man, who alone is responsible for its
extinction in the county. Although large and clumsy, it climbs readily,
and often lives in the same tree for days. It also swims quite readily,
sometimes entering the water voluntarily. It makes a number of noises;
it sniffs, grunts, whines, chatters, and sometimes shrieks and cries
like a child.

_Marmota monax refuscens._ Woodchuck.--Before the settlement of the
county woodchucks were not very common, a few living on the prairies as
well as in the woods. With the clearing of the forests it found a
congenial habitat about the fields and gardens of the settlers, and
there found also choice food easily gathered. With these conditions it
has greatly increased and has become a pest, so that many townships in
southern Michigan pay a bounty of 25 to 50 cents each for woodchucks.

On the Wood homestead of 400 acres in Lodi Township this animal was
rarely seen in 1865, but in the next twenty years it became so common
that in the years 1881-82 I killed more than 100 and my brother and his
helper 125 more, all of them on this one small tract, and even then some
were left.

Its flesh is good when properly prepared, but most people are so
prejudiced that they will not eat it.

Albinos are not rare; I know of one taken near Saline about 1885.

When alarmed it utters a shrill whistle; and when angry it chatters its
teeth. I have often seen it climb trees, and have shot it from heights
of 10 to 30 feet. It climbs when chased by dogs and also of its own free
will.

_Citellus tridecemlineatus tridecemlineatus._ Striped
Ground-squirrel.--This animal (erroneously called "gopher" by many
people) was formerly common only in the southern part of the Lower
Peninsula, where its natural habitat was the prairies or oak openings.
Here it occurred in great numbers, as stated by the first settlers. As
the state became settled and the timber cut off it gradually extended
its range until at present it occurs in most of the cultivated areas of
the Lower Peninsula.

This squirrel rarely climbs in bushes or small trees. It has a sharp
whistle of alarm and a lower chirping call while feeding in company.

_Tamias striatus lysteri._ Northeastern Chipmunk.--Formerly abundant in
the county, living in the forests. With the cutting of the forests it
has become scarce, but is now sometimes found along brushy roadsides as
well as in woods.

It occasionally climbs trees, but usually lives under stumps or logs in
or at the edge of woods. It stores up quantities of food, and is seldom
seen in the winter months.

We have an albino at the Museum of Zoology which was caught near Ann
Arbor by a cat, and I know of one other seen near the city.

The call of the chipmunk is a loud chirp or chuck, regularly repeated
and audible for a half-mile on still, frosty mornings. It also has a
bird-like chirp or rapid call.

_Sciurus hudsonicus loquax._ Southeastern Red-squirrel.--This is the
most abundant squirrel in the county. Owing to its small size it was
formerly not hunted; it also easily adapted itself to civilization and
increased so rapidly that in places it became a nuisance. It has been
accused of driving off the fox and gray squirrels, for which reason it
was exterminated from the University campus, where it formerly occurred.

The red-squirrel is very noisy and has a number of calls, chatters, and
a whining cough which easily distinguishes it from other squirrels.

Several albinos have been taken in Washtenaw County, one pure albino in
Dexter Township in 1908, and one nearly pure white, but with brownish
dorsal stripe and tail, near Ann Arbor in 1912.

_Sciurus carolinensis leucotis._ Northern Gray Squirrel.--Abundant in
the county for many years after its settlement. To the early settlers it
was an injurious species, as it destroyed much of their scanty corn
crop; but in later years it furnished much sport as well as a choice
food for the table. Its chosen habitat was the heavy forest of beech and
sugar maples, and with the cutting of these woods the gray squirrel has
gradually become rare, only a few now being found in the county. As
late as 1875 I saw many of the species, about one-half of the black
phase.

Its call is a high, shrill chatter, which may be heard quite a distance,
and which is distinguished by hunters from the call of the red squirrel
or fox squirrel. J. Austin Scott witnessed a migration in the fall of
1840, when hundreds of gray and black squirrels crossed the Raisin River
near Adrian. They came from the south and were so exhausted from
swimming across the river that the boys killed many with clubs. He
counted 30 in one small tree near the water's edge.

_Sciurus niger rufiventer._ Western Fox Squirrel.--When Michigan was
first settled the species was rare and was confined chiefly to the
southern part of the state, where it occurred in the oak openings, which
seem to be its favorite habitat.[3] With the cutting of the heavy timber
it has gradually extended its range, occupying all of the more open
forests, and it has become very common, even entering the cities, where
it has become semi-domesticated.

[Footnote 3: Robert Kennicott, _U. S. Patent Office Report_, p. 56,
1856].

W. J. Beal[4] states that in Lenawee County there were no fox squirrels
in the early days, but later they came in from the south. At my home in
Lodi Township I never saw one until about 1875, and they were rare for
several years after that.

[Footnote 4: _Mich. Pioneer Coll._]

This is our largest squirrel, furnishing sport and food for hunters. One
albino taken in the county is in the collection of the Museum of
Zoology; and one partly melanistic individual, taken near Ann Arbor,
November 12, 1910, has the whole underside jet black.

The call is hoarser than that of the gray squirrel, but although not so
high in pitch may be heard for some distance. It occasionally swims; I
know of one which swam across a part of Portage Lake, one-half mile, on
a hot summer day, about 1910.

_Glaucomys volans volans._ Southern Flying Squirrel.--This species may
still be found in some numbers in suitable habitats in the county. They
are usually found in woods, although I have found them in houses both in
Ann Arbor and at Portage Lake. They nest and live in tree cavities, and
in winter are gregarious. In late December, about 1890, in Lodi Township
I found 20 or more in a hollow butternut stub. The call is a high,
bird-like chirp or long squeak, which I have often heard from the tree
tops while in the woods on moonlight nights.

_Castor canadensis michiganensis._ Woods Beaver.--The first settlers of
this county found this species to be nearly extinct, although dams and
old beaver meadows were very common. It probably became scarce about
1800. Hon. Henry S. Dean, of Ann Arbor, told me that in 1837 at "Gravel
Run," a few miles north of Ann Arbor, he saw a dam in good shape,
although not used at that time. Remains of other dams still exist. S. D.
Allen, of Ann Arbor, told me that in 1835 he saw a live beaver in the
Huron River near Ypsilanti. This is the last record for the county.

_Lepus americanus americanus._ Snowshoe Hare.--This hare was formerly
common over all the southern peninsula of Michigan. In Washtenaw County
it persisted for a long time in the tamarack bogs, but when these were
mostly drained or destroyed the hares became extinct. It was last taken
in Steere's Swamp, four miles south of Ann Arbor, in 1875. One was taken
in a swamp near Whitmore Lake in 1890. L. D. Watkins, of Manchester,
reports shooting one in a large swamp near Pleasant Lake in the fall of
1907.

_Sylvilagus floridanus mearnsii._ Mearns Cottontail.--The cottontail was
formerly common only in the southern part of Michigan, but it now occurs
over all the cultivated area of the Lower Peninsula. It has increased
with and followed the civilization that furnished an abundance of food
and destroyed many of its enemies.

I have several times found nests in meadows and cultivated fields. The
nest is built in a deep form and is lined with fur from the mother's
body and fine grass. The young are completely hidden when left by the
mother. April 16, 1920, I found a nest containing five young in a
stubblefield at Portage Lake. The young were well covered with hair, but
the eyes were not open. April 20, 1920, I found another nest containing
young on the lawn of an unoccupied house near the shore of Portage Lake.
The number of young was not determined. May 5 the young were gone and
the nest was deserted. May 16, 1920, L. R. Dice saw four young
cottontails with their eyes open in the possession of a boy. They were
taken from a nest near Ann Arbor.

About May 10, some years ago, I saw a cottontail jump into and swim
across Mill Creek in this county. The animal was not pursued nor driven
in any way into the water. Sometimes when caught alive the cottontail
utters a loud, shrill cry.

_Bison bison bison._ American Bison.--According to the reports of the
early explorers, this large mammal, in the eighteenth century, occupied,
or at least visited, the southern border of the state of Michigan.
Although we have no record of its occurrence in this county, its remains
have been found just over the western border of the county by L. D.
Watkins, who in 1835 picked up three skulls near Norvell, Jackson
County (Township 4 south, Range 2 east, Section 22). Two of these skulls
were sent to Hillsdale College, where one still remains, though the data
with it were lost during a fire; the other skull was sent to Albion
College, but cannot now be found. At the time these specimens were
collected other bones were plentiful on the surface of the ground.

_Cervus canadensis canadensis._ Eastern American Elk.--Probably common
over most of the Southern Peninsula of Michigan up until the time of the
settlements. I have found no record of live elk seen in the county, and
the species probably was extinct in the district before 1800. Bones and
antlers are common in the marshes and swamps of the county.

_Odocoileus virginianus borealis._ Northern White-tailed Deer.--Abundant
in the county when the first settlers arrived, and continued common for
many years. It quickly learned to adapt itself to civilization, feeding
by night where it formerly fed by day. Some early settlers report much
damage done to gardens and crops, of which the deer soon learned the
location. The last deer known to me in the county was seen in Saline
Township in 1875 by William Gordon, who reported it to me at the time.
Covert[5] records one seen in the county in 1879.

[Footnote 5: Covert, A. B., in History of Washtenaw County, p. 194,
1881.]


_Hypothetical List_

The mammals included in this list have been reported as occurring in
Washtenaw County, but I can find no specimens with authentic data nor
descriptions satisfactory for identification, and consider the records
doubtful.

_Rattus rattus rattus._ Black Rat.--Covert[6] states that the species is
"very rare. I have but one specimen, which was caught at the Michigan
Central R. R. Depot."

[Footnote 6: Covert, A. B., in History of Washtenaw County, pp. 193-194,
1881.]

_Mustela allegheniensis._ Least Weasel.--Covert says, "The only
specimens of this mammal I have had were brought in this winter" (1881).
I have not been able to find these specimens, which were doubtless small
females of _Mustela noveboracensis_.