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