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