The Mammals of Washtenaw County, Michigan Part 1

The Mammals of Washtenaw County, Michigan.

by Norman 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 a.s.sociated 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 alt.i.tude. 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 s.h.a.g-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 s.h.a.g-bark most characteristic, were most abundant. Mixed with these were elm, beech, sugar maple, black walnut, and b.u.t.ternut. 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 proc.u.mbent 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 Towns.h.i.+p, Bur Oak Plains in Manchester Towns.h.i.+p, Sharon Plains in Sharon Towns.h.i.+p, and Boyden's Plains in Webster Towns.h.i.+p 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 pa.s.sed through on the old Tec.u.mseh Trail to Detroit, where they went to trade.

In 1809 three Frenchmen established a trading-post at Ypsilanti, where the Tec.u.mseh 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 a.s.sistance in the preparation of the ma.n.u.script 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 Towns.h.i.+p. We have later records for Ann Arbor, Dexter, Manchester, Saline, and Scio Towns.h.i.+p. 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 Towns.h.i.+p 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 Towns.h.i.+p, Ann Arbor, Webster Towns.h.i.+p, 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 gra.s.s. 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 gra.s.sy places, usually where briers and shrubs were intermingled with the gra.s.s, 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._ h.o.a.ry Bat.--We have records for Ann Arbor, Bridgewater Towns.h.i.+p, 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 america.n.u.s._ 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 Towns.h.i.+p, told me that he had seen one just killed a few miles west of Ypsilanti in 1852. One was killed in Pittsfield Towns.h.i.+p 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 Towns.h.i.+p; 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. n.o.ble, 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 Towns.h.i.+p, March 10, by Mr. Keeler. Another is reported to have been seen in the same towns.h.i.+p 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 Towns.h.i.+p, 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 gra.s.s was noted in the nest chamber. A black fox was taken in Pittsfield Towns.h.i.+p 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 Towns.h.i.+p 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._ Racc.o.o.n.--In this county the racc.o.o.n 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 c.o.o.n-skin being valued at 25 cents. It was still very common in Lodi Towns.h.i.+p in 1870-80 and furnished the sport of "c.o.o.ning," 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 c.o.o.n 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 Towns.h.i.+p. 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 c.o.o.ns 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 racc.o.o.n 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 racc.o.o.ns 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 Towns.h.i.+p. 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 Towns.h.i.+p 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 towns.h.i.+ps 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 Towns.h.i.+p 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 fis.h.i.+ng I saw one catch and carry away a good-sized trout. It is a poor climber, but once while hunting racc.o.o.ns 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 Towns.h.i.+p 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 Towns.h.i.+p. Here in one winter, about 1870, more than 30 were taken in one trap under an old barn.