Occasional Papers of the Museum of Zoology 1 1 



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. 



Mustcla pcnnantii 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. 



Miistela noveboracensis noveboracensis. New York Wea- 

 sel. — 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. 



