USA > Michigan > Monroe County > History of Monroe County, Michigan : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people, and its principal interests Volume I > Part 40
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THE BEAVER
The most interesting as a study, and the most valuable, commercially, of any of the fur bearing animals of Monroe county, in the fur trading days, was the beaver. The numerous streams and small lakes, abound- ing in fish; the dense forests of his particularly favorite wood, and the general characteristics of the country surrounding the settlements, made this in the old days the ideal home of the beaver; but with the disap- pearance of the big woods, and the influx of settlers, the places that knew him familiarly now know him no more. Its haunts now are far northward, but the fur trade in the northwest has always had for its prime factor the item of the beaver skin. Throughout the country dom- inated by the big fur companies and their offshoots, and their tributary bands of trappers, the beaver skin was the unit of value, the basis of exchanges and barter. It has a distinct place in the literature of New France. Though slaughtered without remorse, its virtues were appre- ciated almost to the point of canonization. The beaver dam is consid- ered one of the most wonderful and intelligent works of God's four- footed ceratures. In the Jesuit Relations, much space is given to the sub- ject, low flat lands lying adjacent to the river and lakes through which they floated timbers for building purposes and winter food, these canals are usually from three to four feet wide. If they could not get the neces- sary depth of water, they would dam up the mouth of the canal, then
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float their timbers to it, cut the dam and let the timber into the main channel. They cut the timber for their winter food in October and sink it to the bottom of the river or lake and cover it with stones and sand. This is done to keep it sweet and fresh during the winter. In trapping the beaver the usual way is to cut a hole in the south side of their house for the traps. Their houses are solidly built of timber from fif- teen to twenty feet long and from six to eight feet high, so arranged that they will rise and fall with the water. They first place four posts in the ground at the bottom of the stream; they dig a hole in the bottom of the stream, and there take the pole designed for the corner post in their mouths and go to the bottom with it. Another beaver will dive down and fill dirt and stones around the post to hold it in position. It is so firmly planted that the strength of two men is required to raise it. Their house is built inside these four corner posts."
Paul Le Jeune, Sieur Olivier, Sieur Nicolet are enthusiastic observers of these ingenious works. La Hontan, fifty years after these explorers, is greatly impressed by the animal's sagacity. One of the above writers "crossed over one of the dams which was more than two hundred steps long;" Sieur Nicolet saw another, "almost a quarter of a league long, so strong and so well built that he was filled with astonishment. He writes: "The waters that are checked by this dam, become deep, and form a beautiful pond in which the beavers go to swim." Even lately within a comparatively short time, the beaver in certain limits is quite plentiful. One old trapper and hunter, once employed by the Hudson's Bay Company, speaking of the beaver, says: "Of all the animals of North America, there is none that displays such ingenuity and skill as the beaver. They can easily cut down a tree ten inches in diameter in an hour's time. Frequently a tree becomes lodged, and there they stand on their hind legs and cut the tree off as high up as they can reach, con- tinuing to cut off length after length, until the tree falls to the ground. The poplar tree is the one most sought for and furnishes them with a considerable part of their food, consuming the outer part, and using the heart for building their dams.
THE RED FOX
While the red fox has been familiarly known in the early settlements of Monroe county, and his pelt a prize to be valued, not alone on account of its market price with the fur dealers, but representing the enjoyment of sports afield, to many a veteran sportsman, the rare black fox, that much sought but elusive animal of the north has been but seldom seen in this region, yet it is on record that specimens have been seen and per- haps now and then one bagged in the long ago in Monroe county. This animal, in the estimation of trappers in the Canadian northland as well as in the eyes of nobility, is a notable possession-the one and only king of beasts. They certainly are a rara avis in this age. On an average, but five perfect pelts of this rare fur bearer are brought down from the . semi-Arctic regions each year. In some very favorable years ten or even twelve have been secured. How small a proportion this is may be realized, when thousands of men make a living by trapping, and the yearly catch for fox skins amounts to more than one hundred thousand from Canada alone. In no way, except in color, does the black fox differ from either his red brother, whose plebeian pelts sell for about $2.00, or the grey fox, whose winter coat has a market value of from $150 to $400, but whenever a hunter or trapper can secure one of the sable hue, and remove his skin without marring fur or hide, he is sure of receiving from $800 to $1500 for his trophy. The most eager buyers
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of the black peltries, are Russian noblemen, who have paid agents travel- ing through North America, during every winter, seeking out remote places in the wildernesses where black foxes may have been seen.
MOST COMMON VARIETIES OF BIRDS
Through the courtesy of Prof. Walter B. Barrows, professor of biology and zoology of Michigan Agricultural College, and of Mr. Bradshaw H. Swales of Grosse Isle, Wayne county, a complete list of sev- enty-five birds that have been and are still more or less common to Monroe county is given. Many of the species are but occasional migrants, and no doubt it will be surprising information to a great many readers of this chapter that some of these have ever been seen here at all. The annotated list of Mr. Swales was prepared especially to include all the aquatic species, and the waders, the latter being easily identified by those who are versed in the ornithology of this latitude. Some of the species named are comparative strangers, indeed, it is probable that none but those in touch with the study, or with the occasional visitors themselves will readily recognize the nomenclature.
It is not easy to say just how many kinds of birds can be fairly called common in this locality, for more than three hundred and twenty species have been recorded in the state while some sixty or more of these are so rare as to have been taken only a few times, and as many more are very seldom seen, yet at least one hundred and fifty species occur regularly in some numbers and almost every one of them is common at some time and place.
In selecting a list of seventy birds therefore, the author has aimed to include only those which have been found regularly almost every- where throughout the state, in suitable places and at proper times. Al- most all of them are to be found in Monroe county, and those which are the exceptions are the sapsucker, junco, white throated sparrow, brown creeper and certain warblers.
SEVENTY COMMON BIRDS
Herring Gull
Chimney Swift Hummingbird
Bittern
Great Blue Heron
Kingbird
Green Heron
Phoebe
Coot; Mud-Hen
Wood Pewee
Spotted Sandpiper
Prairie Horned Lark
Killdeer
Blue Jay
Ruffed Grouse
Crow
Mourning Dove
Bobolink
Marsh Hawk
Cowbird
Cooper's Hawk
Red-winged Blackbird
Red-Shouldered Hawk
Meadowlark
Sparrow Hawk
Baltimore Oriole
Screech Owl
Bronzed Grackle
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Goldfinch
Black-billed Cuckoo Kingfisher
Vesper Sparrow
Downy Woodpecker
White-throated Sparrow
Sapsucker
Chipping Sparrow
Field Sparrow
Red-headed Woodpecker Flicker
Song Sparrow
Chewink; Towhee
Nighthawk Vol. 1-20
English Sparrow
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Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Indigo Bird
Black-throated Green Warbler
Scarlet Tanager
Ovenbird
Purple Martin
Redstart
Barn Swallow
Catbird
Tree Swallow
Brown Thrasher
Bank Swallow
House Wren
Cedar-bird
White-breasted Nuthatch
Migrant Shrike
Chickadee
Red-eyed Vireo
Wood Thrush
Black and White Warbler
Hermit Thrush
Yellow Warbler
Robin
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Bluebird
Myrtle Warbler
Following is Mr. Swales' list of lake and marsh birds and their scien- tific names :
1. Colymbus holbolli. Holboll's Grebe. A rare migrant; spring and fall.
2. Colymbus auritus. Horned Grebe. Rather a common migrant in spring and fall; April, May.
3. Podilymbus podiceps. Pied-billed Grebe. A common migrant; breeds in suitable marshes on Lake Erie and adjacent rivers.
4. Gavia immer. Loon. A fairly common migrant, but much less so than formerly. Still breeds on suitable isolated lakes in the inter- ior.
5. Gavia stellata. Red-throated Loon. Rare during the migrations ; occasionally taken in winter.
6. Uria lomvia lomvia. Brunnich's Nune. This Atlantic coast kind has been secured on the Detroit river, Lake Erie and several localities in the interior during quite extensive inland heights in December, 1896, and December, 1907.
7. Alle alle. Dorekie. One record, Detroit river, 1881.
8. Stercorarius parasiticus. Parasitic Jaeger. Casually to be found on Lake Erie.
9. Tarms argentatus. Herring Gull. A common migrant and win- ter resident on Lake Erie and Detroit river. Immature kinds and home breeders often remain all summer on the lake, but do not breed.
10. Larns delawarensis. Ring-billed Gull. Fairly common migrant; remain during mild winters on Lake Erie.
11. Larus Philadelphia. Bonaparte's Gull. This beautiful little gull is an abundant migrant in late April, and early May; again re- appears in early September remaining well into November and occa- sionally later if the lake is open.
12. Sterna caspia. Caspian Tern. Not common, Lake Erie; this is the largest of the terns found on the Great Lakes.
13. Sterna forsteri. Forster's Tern. A rather scarce summer resi- dent; probably more abundant than realized as it is usually not dis- tinguished from Sterna hirundo.
14. Sterna hirundo. Common Tern. A common species on Lake Erie and adjacent marshes. Breeds in colonies on some of the islands on western Lake Erie.
15. Hydrochelidon nigra surinamensis. Black Tern. An abundant breeder in the river and lake marshes.
16. Phalacrocorax auritus auritus. Double-crested Cormorant. Rather a rare migrant; formerly much more abundant.
.
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HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY
17. Pelecanus erythrorhynchos. White Pelican. Casually taken during the migrations.
18. Mergus Americanis Merganser. An abundant duck on Lake Erie during the migrations; many remain during mild winters.
19. Mergus serrator. Red-breasted Merganser. Rather common during the migrations especially in early May on Lake Erie.
20. Lophodytes cucullatus. Hooded Merganser. Migrant, fairly common.
21. Anas playrhynchos. Mallard. A breeding kind in considerable numbers in the Detroit river marshes, and along Lake Erie. 22. Anas rubripes. Black Duck. A more abundant breeding duck than the mallard. This duck has greatly increased in numbers during the last twenty years.
23. Chavlelasmus streperus. Gadwall. Rather a rare migrant.
24. Mareca penelope. European Widgeon. A rare casual migrant, Monroe marshes, several records.
25. Mareca Americana. Baldpate. Fairly common migrant.
26. Nettion carolinense. Green-winged Teal. Migrant, much rarer than formerly.
27. Querquedula discors. Blue-winged Teal. A common duck dur- ing the migrations. A few pairs still breed in secluded marshes.
28. Spatula clypeata. Shoveller. A rare migrant; about the rarest of the local regular ducks.
29. Dafila acuta. Pintail. Fairly abundant migrant. In former years an occasional pair remained to breed.
30. Aix sponsa. Wood Duck. This species has greatly decreased in numbers during late years. Still breeds in secluded marshes.
31. Marila Americana. Redhead. A common migrant; occasion- ally breeds.
32. Marila valisineria. Canvas-back. Common migrant. Many re- main during mild winters.
33. Marila marila. Scaup Duck. Common migrant; has occasion- ally bred in former years.
34. Marila affinis. Lesser Scant Duck. Abundant during the mi- grations ; occasionally a few pairs still remain and breed.
35. Marila collavis. Ring-necked Duck. Not common; migrant.
36. Clangula clangula Americana. Golden-eye. Common migrant, and winter resident on Lake Erie.
37. Charitonetta albeola. Bubble-head. Abundant during the mi- grations.
38. Harelda hyemalis. Old-squaw. Abundant from late fall to early spring.
39. Somateria spectabilis. King Eider. A rare migrant, Lake Erie.
40. Oidemia Americana. Scoter. A rare migrant; only a few records.
41. Oidemia deglandi. White-winged Scoter. Rather a regular but not common migrant.
42. Oidemia perspicillata. Surf Scoter. A rare migrant.
43. Erismatura jamaicensis. Ruddy Duck. Fairly common mi- grant; formerly bred in small numbers at St. Clair Flats, etc.
44. Chen hyperboreus hyperboreus. Snow Goose. Not common, mi- grant, sometimes occurs in flocks of Canada geese.
45. Chen cærulescens. Blue goose. Migrant, very rare.
46. Anser albifrous gainbeli. White-fronted Goose. A rare mi- grant.
47. Branta canadensis canadensis. Canada Goose. A common mi- grant ; occasionally a few remain on the lake during mild winters.
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HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY
48. Olor columbianus. Whistling Swan. Migrant spring and fall, not rare.
49. Olor buccinator. Trumpeter Swan. A very rare migrant.
50. Mycteria Americana. Wood Ibis. A very rare casual visitor.
51. Botaurus lentiginosus. Bittern. A common summer resident.
52. Ixobrychus exilis. Least Bittern. Summer resident, abundant in suitable marshes.
53. Ixobrychus neoxenus. Cory's Least Bittern. A very rare casual visitor, three records.
54. Ardea herodias herodias. Great Blue Heron. Summer resident, much rarer than formerly, still breeds in secluded localities.
55. Herodias egretta. Egret. Formerly a casual visitor.
56. Florida cærnlea. Little Blue Heron. Casual visitor ; very rare.
57. Butorides vivescens vivescens. Green Heron. Fairly common summer resident.
58. Nycticorax nycticorax navius. Black-crowned Night Heron. Summer resident, much rarer than formerly.
59. Grus Mexicana. Sandhill Crane. A former summer resident ; now very rare if not extinct, in Monroe county.
60. · Rallus elegans. King Rail. Breeds in suitable localities; fairly abundant.
61. Rollus Virginianus. Virginia Rail. A common summer resi- dent in river and inland marshes.
62. Povsana Carolina. Sora. The most abundant rail; breeds com- monly ; is especially numerous during the fall migrations.
63. Coturnicops noveboracensis. Yellow Rail. A summer resident ; not common but probably more so than is generally known owing to its secretive habits.
64. Gallinula galeata. Florida Gallinile. An abundant summer resident. Locally sometimes known as "rice bird."
65. Fulica Americana. Coot. Common migrant; a number remain and breed. This is the familiar "mud hen" of the average gunner.
66. Phalaropus fulicarius. Red Phalarope. A rare migrant.
THE DUCK FAMILY
The duck family as found in one of their favorite habitats in the Monroe marshes and vicinity, is a large, and most interesting one. There is probably no marsh in the country, except perhaps in the Chesa- peake Bay where are found such ideal conditions for the propagation of the canvas-back and redhead duck as in the waters of the Monroe Marsh country of which more in another chapter. The habits and "cus- toms" of various game birds form an interesting study, to the nature lover, while it is almost a prime necessity to the sportsman, in fact, an observing man will pick up more natural history that is reliable, in a year intelligently passed in the personal study of living species, than in groping amid the technicalities of books in a life time.
If you want to get information about ducks at first hand, go to the man who is living among ducks, and sees them under all circumstances and in all their phases of life.
The blue and green-winged teal are very spry birds; they can fly side by side for one hundred miles, and close the race in a dead heat, in an hour, without worrying much about it.
The wild goose is also an astonishingly swift flyer. It has a big heavy body to carry, and to see it waddling along on the ground, you wouldn't suppose it would not make much of a sensation on the wing; but it glides from one feeding place to another and cuts the air with a suddenness
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HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY
that is very aggravating and trying to the nerves of even the best of wing shots. The "honkers" never fool away any time-their gait is swift.
THE WILD TURKEY AND ITS WAYS
The wild turkey which was once so abundant in the northwestern states, found in this county, along the river Raisin the natural conditions for its home, and the numbers of this magnificent bird which delighted the early settlers around Monroe was almost as great, relatively, as the vast flocks of pigeons. In the early fall, and, in fact, all winter they formed the staple article of food, and were greatly relished by all classes ; but like the Buffalo, and passenger pigeon they have yielded to the destructive ingenuity of the white settlers, often wantonly exercised and in places where they most numerously existed, are now very seldom, if ever, seen, and are apparently on the verge of extermination. They are, or a species of them are still found in abundance in the cotton states of the south, where they feed upon the cotton seed of which they are extravagantly fond, and upon which they fatten rapidly. But the flesh is quite strongly flavored by the oil of this plant seed and which is very much disliked by most, and sometimes rendered unfit for the table-a striking contrast to the delightful flavor of the meat which is imparted by the nuts and acorns and berries upon which the wild turkey of the north subsists; although in the northern states they do not confine themselves to any particular kind of food.
A writer who has been a close observer of the habits of game birds and animals in Monroe county, in 1847-1856, has given us a very inter- esting sketch of the habits of the Michigan wild turkey: "They eat green corn, all sorts of berries, small fruits, some kinds of grasses, sorrel as well as beetles and other insects, which are sometimes found in their crops. I think, on the whole, that their preference is for the acorn, which are always abundant on the ground in our oak forests in the sum- mer and fall; they fatten very rapidly on these, and a very attractive aromatic flavor is given to the meat, slightly bitter; in October the males associate in parties of from ten to a hundred, and seek their food apart from the hens, whilst the latter either move about singly, or with their young, then nearly two-thirds grown, or in company with other hens, and their families form troops, numbering sometimes seventy or eighty individuals, all intent in avoiding the old males, who whenever oppor- tunity offers attack and indulge in the reprehensible practice destroying the young by repeated blows on the skull. All parties, however, travel in the same direction, and on foot, unless they are obliged to seek individual safety in flight from the hunter's dog, or where their march is inter- rupted by a stream. When about to cross a river of much size, they seek the highest eminence, that their flight may be more certain, and here they remain for a day or more, as if in consultation, or to be fully prepared for the hazardous voyage. Early in March they begin to pair, and for a short time previous, the females separate from and shun their mates, though the latter persistently follow, and keep up their incessant gob- bling notes. During the ceremonious proceedings at this time, the males, or gobblers, often encounter each other, when desperate battles between rivals occur, which is often only terminated by the death or flight of the vanquished. About the middle of April, the female turkey selects a place in which to deposit her eggs, secured from the encroachment of water, and skillfully concealed from view of human sight, as well as from the watchful eye of the crow. The nest is built on the ground, either on a dry ridge in the fallen top of a dead leafy tree under a thicket of bushes, or by the side of a log. It is of simple structure, composed
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mostly of dried leaves and the eggs laid therein are deposited to the number of ten, fifteen or twenty, which seems to be the maximum num- ber. They are of a cream white, spotted with reddish brown, similar to those of the domestic bird. The hen always approaches her nest with great caution, generally by a roundabout course, seldom by the same route, and on leaving her charge, is very careful to cover the whole with dried leaves, with which she conceals it so skillfully, as to make it ex- tremely difficult, even for one that has watched her movements, to indi- cate the exact spot; hence but very few are found, and these only by driving the female from them, or by the appearance of broken shells scattered by fox or crow who were more fortunate in getting there first.
The Indians valued this food very highly roasted or boiled, and called it the "white man's dish."
THE BALD-HEADED EAGLE
While this "monarch of the air," the emblematic bird of the United States of America, cannot be claimed as common to Monroe county, nor even a regular inhabitant of any part of the county, yet considerable interest attaches to the yearly visits of a large and fine specimen of this historic number of the falcon family to the south shores of La Plaisance bay, where a huge forest tree was selected for its short visits, and where a nest of characteristic size and workmanship was constructed among the topmost branches and where for several years it was noted by ob- servant frequenters of that region. He (or she) was not given to pre- datory excursions into the neighboring farm yards or corn cribs, but undoubtedly varied its fish or duck diet, by judicious selections from the domestic fowls which temptingly and incautiously paraded before the domicile of the keen watcher above them. The big elm and the huge nest were objects of great interest to those who had discovered them, but the bird was not molested, and appeared to feel very much at home in her new domestic environments. The big tree was finally partially de- stroyed by a heavy storm not many months since, and the visits of the eagle terminated with the loss of her summer home. Once when sitting on a broken limb of a tree not far from her own quarters she was suc- cessfully photographed by an amateur, and the pictures were naturally in great demand. Doubtless families of eaglets were bred there in that big nest, and safely conveyed thence to wider scenes of activity, but none was ever seen to leave it.
THE PASSENGER PIGEON
Older residents of Monroe county recall the time when this beautiful bird came into the woods bordering the streams in the county in countless numbers; here they had "roosts" and remained for a week or more in September and October season, when scores of gunners and trappers from the city and surrounding country-side swarmed in the woods armed with every sort of gun and other form of deadly "weapon" and con- tinued the onslaught so long as the birds remained, slaughtering them by hundreds of thousands. The accounts which have been published of the incredible numbers slain for market seem to the reader of today, who was not familiar with the facts, like exaggerated Munchausen tales; they naturally ask, if these stories of the uncountable numbers of this bird are true, what has become of them and where have they mysteriously and utterly disappeared to? That is just what is agitating scores of men more interested in the question than the mere questioner out of curiosity. Scientists, sportsmen, ornithologists have spent time and money in the vain pursuit of the solution of the mystery. Rewards running into thou-
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HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY
sands of dollars have been offered "for first information, exclusive and confidential, of the location of a nesting pair or colony of passenger pigeons anywhere in North America; when properly confirmed, and if found by confirming party with parent birds and eggs, or young, undis- turbed." Prof. C. F. Hodge of Clarke University, Worcester, Massa- chusetts, has had a list of gentlemen published, who have kept standing offers of rewards amounting to thousands of dollars in the effort to secure an intelligent search of the American continent for breeding pigeons in the hope that if found, the species may be saved from extermination- and yet not one claimant has reported ! Not a feather has been seen in more than two years. Mr. Wm. B. Mershon, of Saginaw, has given a large amount of time to the investigation of this mystery of the pigeon and collected information from every possible source upon the subject which forms the matter of a volume published by him in 1907, of unique interest. Monroe county, especially that part lying along the valley of the Raisin, which was once densely wooded, was fifty years ago one of the favored resorts of this famous bird. It usually arrived about the time of fall seeding of wheat, and the newly sown fields would be literally covered with the birds, nor would they leave until the last kernel was removed. Of course this was a serious matter for the farmer, requiring re-seeding of his wheat fields-which has been known to be repeated three times in one season. When the birds would be disturbed in their feast by some gunner, they would rise in clouds, and if a dead tree chanced to stand in the field, they would settle upon it, until it seemed to be in full foliage ! Other sections of the state were even more densely peopled by this now extinct bird, and the tales that are related of their inconceivablenor- mous numbers, their destructiveness and the war of extermination that was waged by men and boys, hunter and trapper, day in and day out, without perceptibly diminishing their numbers are almost unbelievable, yet quite within the possibilities and facts. It appears that from 1860 to 1875, there existed an army of about five hundred men and their families, in and about Oceana county, "pigeoners" by title and profession, who did nothing but follow these hordes of birds from nesting place to nesting place, trapping and netting them, old and young, in such numbers as to suggest at least one explanation of the ultimate disappearance if not extinction of the species. In the year 1874, from the single nesting place near Shelby, Michigan, it is a matter of record that there were shipped one hundred carloads, daily for thirty days, making for that one nesting, the astounding number of 309,000,000 birds, but does not include the large numbers consumed by netters, their families and their (four footed) pigs. (It was not unusual that porkers were fattened on the young birds.)
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