4 Unncrsity of Michigan 



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, 

 <:aused 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 occu- 

 pied 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 Wash- 

 tenaw County and I have seen the latter part of the exploita- 

 tion 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 con- 

 tained 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 manu- 

 script of this paper I am indebted to L. R. Dice, Curator of 

 Mammals in the Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan. 



