64 
JOURNAL OF MAMMALOGY 
failed on the mainland were futile here. Moreover old-time residents 
of the islands, men who were familiar with outdoor life, repeatedly told 
me that chipmunks, ‘‘gophers’’ (ground squirrels), woodchucks, porcu- 
pines, skunks, and bears were not found on the islands. One of the 
islands is called “Bear Island” but I could find no evidence that a bear 
had ever been seen on that or any other island of the group. It is said 
that a few cottontail rabbits have been seen at Lapointe, but I was 
unable to secure verification of their presence there. In view of the 
habits of this mammal its occurrence on the islands may be expected. 
CONCLUSION 
It can be seen from these remarks that the mammals known to inhabit 
the Apostle Islands are all more or less active during the winter, while 
those inhabiting the adjacent mainland and not known from the islands 
tend to be inactive in winter. Bearing in mind that the terrestrial 
biota of these islands is, geologically speaking, very recent and has 
been derived from the mainland, it is strongly suggested that this winter 
inactivity has had an influence on the distribution of certain mammals 
by tending to prevent them from crossing on the ice and keeping them 
out of the debris carried from the beaches by the ice floes. While present 
evidence indicates complete isolation of mammals inactive in winter 
from the islands, it would seem that this restriction would retard 
ingression of these mammals onto the islands rather than completely 
inhibit it. 
