Part 2

_Black Spruce--Tamarack Bog habitat:_ The dominant bog tree in this region is the black spruce (_Picea mariana_), which is usually small and stunted. With the black spruces are a lesser number of small tamaracks (_Larix larcina_), which in places may be dominant. The ground is heavily covered with sphagnum, which is normally soaked with water. Shrubs are abundant, though usually not forming a closed mat. Of the shrubs the leather leaf is the most abundant, though Kalmia, Andromeda, Ledum, and blueberries are common. A few young white pines and red maples were noted. Sedges occur frequently, and the pitcher plant is very characteristic.

_Forests_

_Hemlock forest habitat:_ In the Cisco Lake Region groves of hemlock (_Tsuga canadensis_) frequently occupy the lower parts of steep slopes adjoining the lakes. One such area studied is made up of practically a pure stand of hemlocks, the trunks being from about 6 to 18 inches in diameter. A few very old yellow birches are present, and also a few young sugar maples and arbor-vitae, the latter chiefly near the water's edge. Shrubs and herbs are nearly absent, and the forest floor is covered by a thick carpet of dead needles. There are many decaying logs, usually covered by a thin coat of moss. In the Little Girl's Point Region nearly pure stands of large hemlocks cover many of the lower parts of steep slopes and also occur commonly on well-drained soil elsewhere. In the vicinity of the north end of Gogebic Lake a few small groves of hemlocks were noted, but the ground in general is so low and swampy that the species mostly occurs as a part of the mixed forest of the region. Animals are rare in the habitat.

_White pine forest habitat:_ White pine (_Pinus strobus_), which formerly was a common forest tree in northern Michigan, has now been mostly removed for lumber. Near Little Girl's Point a small natural grove of this species was studied, occupying a moderate southerly slope above a black spruce bog. The area is about 50 by 150 meters in size. White pines are by far the most numerous and dominant tree, the trunks measuring up to about five feet in diameter. In the grove yellow birch, some of large size, are common; toward the bottom of the slope hemlocks are also common; and near the edge of the bog there are a few arbor-vitae. Shrubs are almost absent, there being merely a few small seedlings of arbor-vitae, hemlock, and fir, mostly toward the bottom of the slope. A few scattered clumps of grass appear, but the forest floor is mostly covered only by a thick carpet of dry pine needles. Numerous dead limbs and sticks have fallen from the pines.

_Wet hardwood forest habitat:_ The land adjoining much of Gogebic Lake is low and poorly drained. Here is found a mixed forest dominated by sugar maple (_Acer saccharum_), black maple, hemlock, yellow birch (_Betula lutea_), linden, elm (_Ulmus americana_), ash (not black ash), and ironwood (_Ostrya virginiana_). The hardwoods are decidedly dominant over the conifers. The forest crown is high and closed, and the trees are large. The underbrush in general is scanty, though in some places there is a thick growth of mountain maple (_Acer spicatum_) and of sugar maple seedlings. Leatherwood (_Dirca palustris_), hazel, ferns, and a few young firs (_Abies balsamea_) also occur.

Some of the lower forests in the Cisco Lake Region approach the wet hardwood forest type, though none are extensive in area, and they are usually surrounded and dominated by the dry forest condition.

_Dry hardwood forest habitat:_ The highest development of the dry hardwood type of forest was found on the upper parts of the moderately high ridge near Little Girl's Point. The slopes in general are very gentle, but well drained. The forest here is dominated by the sugar maple (_Acer saccharum_), yellow birch (_Betula lutea_), and linden (_Tilia americana_). Hemlocks are rare, and only one elm was seen. The trees are large, the trunks frequently reaching diameters of two feet or more. The forest crown is high and heavy. Underbrush is scanty and low, being mostly young seedlings of sugar maple, though seedlings of linden are numerous. Other shrubs and herbs noted were the leatherwood (_Dirca palustris_), hazel (_Corylus rostrata_), yew (_Taxus canadensis_), gooseberry, ferns, false Solomon's seal, and grass. On the ground are many decaying leaves, these usually forming a heavy carpet; decaying logs and freshly fallen sticks are common.

In the Cisco Lake Region the drainage is not so good as in the vicinity of Little Girl's Point, and the forests of that district are of a type somewhat intermediate between the wet hardwood forest and the dry hardwood forest. In the Cisco Lake Region the topography is much broken, there being many small hills and ridges, and many small depressions, often poorly drained. In the damp depressions, if not wet enough for a bog, arbor-vitae and hemlock are common, while on the ridges sugar maple and linden are characteristic, though hemlock occurs here sparingly also. There is accordingly much local variation in tree forms, but the whole forest is decidedly of a hardwood type.

The dry hardwood forests of the Little Girl's Point Region are inhabited by many deer-mice, while only a few of this species are found in the wet hardwood forests near Gogebic Lake, bob-tailed shrews being there the most abundant mammal and red-backed voles being common, both of which are rare in the other districts. In the dry hardwood forest near Little Girl's Point four woodland jumping mice (Napaeozapus) were taken, while in the Cisco Lake Region only two were taken in a period twice as long, and at Gogebic Lake none were secured. These observations indicate that moisture conditions in hardwood forests have an important influence on the mammal fauna.

_Mountains_

_Rock-bluff habitat:_ Rock exposures are rare in the region studied. However there are several high hills with steep exposures of rock a short distance north of Ironwood and Bessemer. These hills could not be studied in the time available, and the only cliff examined was on a small range of hills northeast of the station of Lake Gogebic. On one of these hills is a nearly perpendicular rock cliff about 200 feet high and facing to the southward. The small talus slope at the bottom is overgrown with shrubs and trees, and on the small ledges and gullies of the face of the cliff a few small trees, shrubs, and herbs are also growing. The most conspicuous plants of the rock habitat are scrub oaks, aspens, and heaths. No trapping was done in the habitat, and no notes on mammals were secured. Probably the mammal fauna is not very large.

_Mountain-heath habitat:_ A narrow, poorly developed belt of heath fringes the upper edge of the rock cliff examined north of Lake Gogebic. Characteristic plants are the blueberry and bearberry, mixed with creeping juniper and a few scattered grasses. The habitat is very narrow and is closely encroached upon by shrubs and trees, such as sumac, cherry, white pine, jack pine, oaks, aspens, and paper birch. Signs of fox were noted at the edge of the cliff, but no trapping was carried on here.

_Air_

_Aerial habitat:_ The only aerial mammals are the bats, of which four species were taken during the summer. The flying squirrel is not considered to be a true aerial form.

_Burns and Clearings_

Fires have been numerous throughout northern Michigan and a large part of the region is covered by various stages in the succession following fires or clearings. The areas studied were selected as representative of the natural conditions of the peninsula, but even in these districts there are many burned areas.

Many large areas have been heavily logged over, sometimes followed by fire, with a result similar to that of a fire. In the region studied there are numerous small clearings, some of which are in use as the residences of settlers, but most have been allowed to revert to a wild condition. The stages in succession on an abandoned clearing seem to be similar to those following a fire, and they are here considered together.

_Herbaceous stage:_ After a fire in a forest in this region the first vegetation to spring up seems to be the herbs, of which the fireweed (_Chamaenerion angustifolium_) is most prominent. A number of areas dominated by this type of vegetation were seen, but the type seems to be short-lived, and is probably quickly replaced by shrubs and tree seedlings. The stages in succession following a fire in swampy areas may be somewhat different from that in a hardwood region, but no data was obtained. No opportunity presented itself to study the mammals of the herbaceous stage, and I have no records for the species found there.

_Shrub stage:_ Following a fire or clearing in a hardwood area the herbaceous stage is apparently quickly followed by a thick growth of shrubs and young trees. The characters of the shrub growth vary considerably with the texture of the soil, amount of soil moisture, slope, and completeness of burning. The growth is usually quite thick, though in some clearings where the growth has been kept down for some time there may be open grassy patches. In small clearings near Fish-hawk Lake the raspberry (_Rubus strigosus_) is a characteristic species, but near Little Girl's Point it is much less common. A large area of shrub studied near Little Girl's Point is on a rather steep slope facing to the north, though part is at the bottom of the hill on a very gentle slope. There are no large trees, but saplings up to 2-1/2-inch trunks occur; most, however, are smaller. The quaking and large-toothed aspens (_Populus tremuloides_ and _P. grandidentata_), paper and yellow birches (_Betula papyrifera_ and _B. lutea_), sugar maple, and linden are common seedlings. Shrubs, such as the sumac (_Rhus hirta_), wild cherry (_Prunus pennsylvanica_), raspberry, willows (Salix spp.), mountain maple, red-berried elder (_Sambucus racemosa_), and hazel are common. A few herbs, like the fireweed, golden-rod, and pearly everlasting, occur in open places.

A number of mammals are found in the shrub stage, but they are far less abundant than in mature hardwood forest.

_Paper birch--aspen stage:_ The continued growth of the young trees in the shrub stage leads to the production of a sapling forest of the more quickly growing species, the paper birches and aspens. Often one or other of these species becomes dominant to the practical exclusion of the other, but sometimes both occur together. On the slopes near the lakes of the Cisco Lake chain aspens are rare, and the sapling forests on the clearings and burns are almost a pure stand of paper birch. Near Watersmeet, however, the aspen seems to be the dominant form, and few paper birches were seen. Near Gogebic Lake, also, the quaking aspen is the dominant form, though paper birches are common in the sapling forests. The growth in these sapling forests is very thick, and the ground is nearly bare of vegetation, though it is heavily covered with dead sticks and small logs. In a thick growth of quaking aspens, on wet ground studied near Gogebic Lake, a number of alders and paper birches, a few young trees of sugar maple and arbor-vitae, and a rare elm occur. A scanty undergrowth of mountain maple and numerous sugar maple seedlings is present. Few mammals are found in this stage of the forest.

On the western slope of Birch Point on Cisco Lake there is a good stand of paper birches, growing in an open stand with much grass in the spaces between the trees. This place has been much used for camping and it may be that the development of the grass is the result of opening the forest by clearing out some of the trees. Among the birches are numerous young firs and white pines, with a few young sugar maples, and a rare arbor-vitae. The birches show many signs of age, and would evidently, if undisturbed, soon give way to a forest dominated by the pines and firs. In the grass among these trees deer-mice, red-backed voles, and jumping mice (Zapus) were taken. Signs of snowshoe hare were seen.

_Young hardwood forest stage:_ On the eastern slope of a low ridge at Birch Point, Cisco Lake, a young hardwood forest is rapidly replacing a former growth of paper birches which has followed a fire. In this growth numerous old paper birches still persist, but they are being strongly crowded by a thick growth of vigorous young sugar maples, some of which have trunk diameters up to about eight inches, and which form a dense shade. Among the maples are numerous young firs and a few young hemlocks and arbor-vitae. The ground is mostly bare, being scantily covered by leaves. The soil is moist, but there is no grass and little brush. In this habitat deer-mice were taken, and one red squirrel was seen.

_Artificial Conditions_

_Overflow swamp habitat:_ Due to the rise in water-level of the lakes of the Cisco Lake chain many low areas of forest have been flooded and killed. Many of the dead trunks of these trees still remain standing, mixed with fallen and decaying logs in the water. Locally these habitats are called "overflow swamps," a name here adopted for the habitat. There is little living vegetation in these swamps, an occasional water lily being almost the only plant present. Porcupines commonly walk out on the logs of the swamp to secure the water lily leaves, and probably the mink occasionally runs over the logs in its movements along the waterways.

_Cultivated-field habitat:_ Cleared fields occur only sparingly in the regions visited, and these fields are small in size. No study of their inhabitants was made, though silver-haired bats were collected while they were flying over a small clearing in the Little Girl's Point Region.

_Edificarian habitat:_ Towns and buildings are not very common in northern Michigan. In and around a cabin on Lindsley Lake a number of deer-mice were trapped, and signs that porcupines had invaded the cabin were noted.

ANNOTATED LIST OF MAMMALS

_Condylura cristata._ Star-nosed Mole.

Tall-sedge, 2. Two were trapped September 3 and 5, 1920, in a short, open runway in very moist soil at the edge of a small ditch running through tall sedges in a beaver meadow near Gogebic Lake, Ontonagon County.

_Sorex personatus personatus._ Masked Shrew.

Grassy-meadow, 2. Black spruce--tamarack bog, 2. Wet hardwood forest, 3. Dry hardwood forest, 3. Shrub stage, 2.

In the Cisco Lake Region in July, one was taken in a small black spruce bog, two in a narrow tongue of grass between tall sedges and sphagnum bordering Mud Lake, three in the wetter parts of the hardwood forest, and three in the upland, well-drained hardwood forest. Near Little Girl's Point in August, two were taken in a growth of shrubs in a burn. Near Gogebic Lake, Ontonagon County, one was taken September 4 in a black spruce bog.

_Sorex richardsonii._ Richardson Shrew.

Tall-sedge, 15. Grassy-meadow, 1. Sphagnum bog, 1.

This species was found only in or near tall sedges growing in moist or marshy situations. In the Cisco Lake Region six were taken near Mud Lake in July. Four of these were taken in tall sedges, one in grass alongside the sedges, and one in sphagnum between the sedges and the lake. August 30 to September 5, eleven were taken in tall sedges in a beaver meadow near Gogebic Lake, Ontonagon County.

An adult female trapped at Mud Lake, July 30, contained five large embryos. There were two pairs of inguinal and one pair of abdominal mammae. Another adult female trapped in the same place, July 22, had two pairs of inguinal mammae, but no abdominal mammae were found.

The latter individual was moulting, patches of new fur having replaced the old on the top of the head midway between the ears and eyes, between the shoulders, and on the rump. The other female mentioned above, taken July 30, had nearly completed her moult.

Only two specimens have been previously recorded from Michigan, one from Alger County and the other from Chippewa County.[2]

_Neosorex palustris palustris._ Marsh Shrew, Water Shrew.

Tall-sedge, 1. Ditch-border, 3.

September 1 a marsh shrew was trapped in the tall sedges of a beaver meadow near Gogebic Lake, Ontonagon County. Most of the body had been eaten by some carnivore. Other specimens were taken on each of the two succeeding days, and a fourth on September 5.

The first specimen taken was trapped eight feet from a tiny stream which flowed through the marshy sedges. Two of the others were taken on the muddy bank of the stream near the water's edge, and the fourth about 35 feet from the water. All were secured within a radius of 35 feet.

This species has been recorded but once previously from Michigan, from Chippewa County.[3]

_Microsorex hoyi._ Hoy Shrew.

Black spruce-tamarack bog, 1. Wet hardwood forest, 1.

One specimen was taken July 17 at Fish-hawk Lake in a moderately wet part of the hardwood forest. Another was taken July 29 at the edge of a small black spruce bog.

_Blarina brevicauda talpoides._ Bob-tailed Shrew.

Tall-sedge, 8. Grassy-meadow, 6. Alder-thicket, 1. Black ash swamp, 6. Arbor-vitae swamp, 4. Black spruce--tamarack bog, 1. Wet hardwood forest, 32. Dry hardwood forest, 8. Shrub stage, 1. Paper birch--aspen stage, 6.

The species is rather generally distributed, but is by far the most common in moist woods. In the Cisco Lake Region 11 were secured; in the Little Girl's Point district, 10; and near Gogebic Lake in Ontonagon County, 52. In the latter district it was the most abundant mammal species, even exceeding Peromyscus in numbers; indeed, Peromyscus was relatively uncommon in the partly swampy woods of the region, and it might be that the abundance of the bob-tailed shrews accounts for the scarcity of the deer-mice, for the shrews undoubtedly at times prey upon the mice. The specimen recorded above from the black spruce-tamarack bog was taken near Gogebic Lake in a boggy swamp, which, while dominated by black spruces, yet contained a considerable number of arbor-vitae and hemlocks.

In the wet hardwood forest near Gogebic Lake Blarina runways are exceedingly abundant, usually running along or under sticks or logs. Commonly they are just under the leaves, but sometimes for a short distance are without covering. One old log examined was found to be honey-combed with these tunnels. The deeper runways nearly always follow down just under a tree root.

The uterus of a female taken July 10, at Fish-hawk Lake, showed a few small swellings which were identified in the field as embryos. Unfortunately, the uterus was not preserved. No embryos were found in 26 other females taken between July 15 and September 4. In the latter part of the season fewer immature specimens were taken than earlier in the summer. These facts show that in this region the species breeds in the spring or early summer and does not usually breed again during July and August.

_Myotis lucifugus lucifugus._ Little Brown Bat.

Aerial, 15.

Nine individuals were shot while they were flying over the lakes in the Cisco Lake Region. These were taken between 8:00 and 9:00 p. m. from July 1 to August 2; but on moonlight nights bats, believed to be of this species, were seen flying as late as 10:00 p. m. At the camp near Little Girl's Point one was shot at 7:55 p. m., August 11, as it flew about over the road through the dry hardwood forest. Five others were shot at the Gogebic Lake camp as they flitted through an opening in the wet hardwood forest. These were taken between 7:30 and 7:55 p. m., August 23 to September 2; but bats almost certainly of this species appeared regularly in the evenings about 7:10 p. m.

_Lasionycteris noctivagans._ Silver-haired Bat.

Aerial, 3.

Near the Little Girl's Point camp one was shot at 7:50 p. m., August 9, and two more in the same region about 7:45 p. m., August 17. One was flying along a road through the dry hardwood forest at a height about equal to that of the tree-tops, and the others were taken in a small clearing in the same forest.

_Nycteris borealis borealis._ Red Bat.

Aerial, 2.

Two were secured near the Little Girl's Point camp at about 7:45 p. m., one August 9 and the other August 14, as they flew about over the road through the dry hardwood forest.

_Nycteris cinerea._ Hoary Bat.

Aerial, 1.

The only specimen secured was shot at 7:55 p. m., August 9, while it was flying over the road through the dry hardwood forest near Little Girl's Point.

_Ursus americanus americanus._ Black Bear.

Wet hardwood forest, 1. Dry hardwood forest, 1.

Reported by residents as being rather common. July 10 a large black bear was seen to cross the railroad track and enter the hardwood forest not over a quarter-mile from Cisco Lake Station. Tracks of a large individual were seen in the mud bordering a small brook in maple-birch-hemlock forest about three miles southeast of the station July 17 and August 15. At dusk, August 28, while Mr. Sherman was setting up a camera and flashgun along a deer trail about 100 yards from the camp on Gogebic Lake, a small bear passed within twenty-five paces of him, apparently but little concerned with his presence or that of the nearby camp and fire, except that it sniffed the air occasionally.

_Canis lycaon._ Timber Wolf.

Mud-flat, signs. Tall-sedge, tracks. Dry hardwood forest, reported.

Residents reported it common in all the districts visited by us. We saw signs and tracks in several habitats; and residents saw a wolf in the dry hardwood forest near our camp in the Little Girl's Point district.

_Canis latrans._ Coyote.

J. E. Fischer reported in 1920 that coyotes had appeared and become numerous in the region at the north end of Lake Gogebic within the last few years. We have secured several skulls and skeletons taken by him in 1920-21.

_Vulpes fulva._ Red Fox.

Mountain-heath, signs.

Signs of fox were found in late August in a narrow growth of heath at the top of a cliff about a mile north of Lake Gogebic Station. J. E. Fischer has sent us a fox taken in January, 1921, in Gogebic County near Gogebic Lake. Benjamin J. Twombley reports that a few occur in the Cisco Lake Region. J. E. Marshall, in 1911, reported that a few occurred around Gogebic Lake.

_Urocyon cinereoargenteus._ Gray Fox.

J. E. Marshall reported in 1911 that it was rare, but that he had trapped two near Gogebic Lake.

_Martes americanus americanus._ Marten.

J. E. Marshall reported in 1911 that it was getting scarce in Gogebic and Ontonagon counties. He trapped a number near Gogebic Lake in the winter of 1884-1885, and took 15 in the winter of 1889-90. In 1920 J. E. Fischer reported marten rare near Gogebic Lake.

_Martes pennantii pennantii._ Fisher.

In 1911 J. E. Marshall reported that it was getting scarce near Gogebic Lake; he trapped four in the winter of 1889-90 and two in 1890-91. J. E. Fischer took one in Ontonagon County near Gogebic Lake in the winter of 1919-20. Ole Petersen in 1911 reported it rare near Gogebic Lake.

_Mustela cicognanii cicognanii._ Bonaparte Weasel.

Black spruce--tamarack bog, 1. Dry hardwood forest, 4.

Trappers report it common throughout the areas visited. We took five specimens near Little Girl's Point. Several specimens taken in the Cisco Lake Region during the winter of 1920-21 were presented to us by Benjamin J. Twombley, and J. E. Fischer sent us a specimen taken in December, 1920, near Gogebic Lake.

_Mustela vison letifera._ Mink.

Forest--shore, 6. Wet hardwood forest, den.