The Mammals of Washtenaw County, Michigan: Occasional Papers of the Museum of Zoology, No. 123 — John Shaqi
The Mammals of Washtenaw County, Michigan: Occasional Papers of the Museum of Zoology, No. 123Wood, Norman Asa
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The Mammals of Washtenaw County, Michigan: Occasional Papers of the Museum of Zoology, No. 123
Wood, Norman Asa
Mammals -- Michigan -- Washtenaw County
Produced by Larry B. Harrison, Josephine Paolucci and the
Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net.
NUMBER 123 JULY 10, 1922
OCCASIONAL PAPERS OF THE MUSEUM OF ZOOLOGY
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN PUBLISHED BY THE UNIVERSITY
THE MAMMALS OF WASHTENAW COUNTY, MICHIGAN
BY NORMAN A. WOOD
Three natural physiographic divisions cross Washtenaw County from
northwest to southeast. The northwestern part of the county is occupied
by the rough interlobate moraine of loose-textured soil, the Interlobate
Lake District; a broad Clay Morainic Belt occupies most of the central
part of the county; and in the southeastern corner of the county is
found a low Lake Plain, once the bed of glacial Lake Maumee.
The Interlobate Lake District has a conspicuous system of moraines,
making up a most irregular land surface. Steep knolls 100 to 200 feet in
height are closely associated with basins, which are often deep, and
some of which are occupied by lakes. Small, undrained depressions occur
everywhere, producing thousands of acres of swamp and marsh land.
The Clay Morainic Belt occupies the region from just below Portage Lake
to Ypsilanti. It is composed of glacial till plains and clay moraines
extending from northeast to southwest. This area includes the highest
land in the county, one hill exceeding and several approaching 1100 feet
in altitude. Most of the area is high and rolling.
The old beach, marking the limits of the Lake Plain District, runs
northeast from Ypsilanti to the county line above Cherry Hill, and
southwest through Stony Creek to a point on the county line about eight
miles west of Milan.
The native upland forests of the Interlobate Moraine District were
composed chiefly of red, yellow, and white oak, with some smooth-bark
hickory and sugar maple and a few shag-bark hickories. Here were also
large areas of creeping juniper and a few small patches of ground
hemlock (yew). On the flood-plains of the rivers and lakes were quite
extensive swampy forests of soft maple, black ash, and white elm. Swamp
oak and whitewood grew commonly in the drier situations toward the edge
of the swamp conditions. The red-bud and red cedar were characteristic
of the river banks. White pine probably never grew in the county,
although a few trees occur on the south bank of the Huron River near
Hamburg, a few miles north of the county line.
Tamarack bogs, some of large size, are abundant in the Interlobate
Moraine District and occur commonly also in the Clay Morainic District,
but are practically wanting in the Lake Plain District.
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