The value of fur-bearing animals was one of the incentives to the exploration of the northern country, and explorers and early trappers found this territory rich in the varieties they sought, and there were many species.

The largest of the fur-bearing animals valuable to the fur traders was the clumsy black bear. It is still hunted though gradually becoming more scarce, and eventually will become extinct. The food of the black bear is berries, nuts and roots, spruce bark and buds. It also eats skunk-cabbage and Indian turnips, the roots of which are intensely hot. The black bear is not ferocious and will not attack a human unless wounded or cornered, or driven to viciousness by hunger.

The bison appears to have been in this vicinity according to references made of it in Indian traditions, and on the east side of Lake Gogebic is a small swamp called "the buffalo wallow." The buffalo ranged the entire country from Montana to Florida.

The woodland caribou was know and hunted by the Indians and early settlers. Its meat was a favorite ingredient of pemmican. The caribou is the only reindeer known as far south of Lake Superior. It has been driven out of Michigan entirely.

The moose, in the early days, was hunted for food and for the pelts, these being strong and tough and were used for moccasins, snowshoes, and also for clothing. The moose is large and has the color much like a native deer, though darker. It has a clumsy head with broad antlers. Despite its clumsy appearance, it is very swift. The Indian knew its wary ways and alertness and was therefore more successful in the hunt than his white brother. The food of the moos is usually twigs of trees, mosses, lichens, and the roots of pond lilies. Moose have been propagated in the national preserve on Isle Royale and a number will be liberated in the woods along Lake Superior in the spring of 1936.

The American elk, was formerly well known, but is now extinct in this part of the state. It is larger than the red deer, and its flesh is much coarser, being more like that of the moose. The antlers of the elks resemble those of the deer, but are much larger.

The American deer has always made its home here. The white-tailed variety is most common. It feeds mostly on clover and light grasses and is especially fond of turnips, cabbage and other garden truck. Its winter food is buds, ferns, bark, mosses and twigs. Its summer color is reddish-brown which turns to a grey-brown in winter. Deer hunting is one of our principal sports and is more extensively practiced now than in earlier years. The deer was formerly hunted with deer hounds for the chase or waiting for them at night with head lights or "shines" as they were called, placed on the hunter’s head or on the bow of a boat. These methods are out-lawed and the hunter must now rely on his won prowess.

Timber or Grey wolf is the only member of the dog family native to the north woods. It is a very fierce and destructive animal and when hunting, they usually join and form packs. The color is grey with white stomach.

The ends of the long hairs are dark and when the wolf takes on a heavy coat it sometimes presents an appearance of being almost black.

Coyote, the jackall of the old world, is not a native of the north woods, but seems to have wondered from the prairies, its natural home, in recent years. It is yellowish grey in color and is more closely allied to the dog than the timber wolf. While not as fierce as the timber wolf, it does its share of destruction to the deer family, rabbits and other inhabitants of the woods.

Wolverines formerly plentiful have disappeared. They were ferocious, gluuons, and natural thieves. Trappers especially hated the animal. The color of the animal was black and its fur exceptionally good. The Indians used a word for the wolverine, which meant "tough fellow."

Red fox is still common but not as numerous as in early years. Its color is reddish yellow on the back and nearly white underneath. The fur of the mature animals is in good demand, and that of the kits is fine and soft. It also a frequenter of chicken coops and much despised by the farmer and poultry raiser. Its habits are predatory and sly. There have been apecimens of the black fox and silver grey fox taken here.

Panther, the largest representative of the cat family, was formerly known, but is rare now. It has a long lithe body and in color is a tiny reddish brown, and the kittens have dark brown stripes or spots, very nearly black. The head is small in comparison to the body. It has been know to attack a man. One instance of this was a trapper, William Sisco, from Marenisco. He was trapping northeast of Bessemer and about six miles out, a panther dropped from a tree onto his back. He was armed only a hunting knife and after a fierce fight the cat was killed. Mr. Sisco, made his way to Bessemer and was treated at the Paradis Hospital. The poison from the cat’s claws finally resulted in rheumatism and Mr. Sisco was removed to the home of his sister (at Holland Mich.)

Wild Cat, known also as "bob-cat," is much larger than a common house cat and has a short thick tail. Its color is grey, with light yellowish fur underneath and dark stripes down the spine and along the sides. It feeds upon rabbits, birds and small animals and has been known to kill fawns.

Canada Lynx a savage member of the cat family. Grizzled grey in color, with lighter color underneath. It is larger than the wild cat and has trufts on its ears. It hunts birds, rabbits and other small animals for food.

Raccoon is still found, but rare. Its long, grey hair covers the fine thick under fur. It has a long tail, ringed with black and light stripes. Its food is varied, but it has a special taste for chickens. It is also fond of fish, which probably explains its trait of "dunking" its rations. Most of its food is soused in water before being devoured.

Otter, formerly quite common, but now practically extinct. Predominant color, brown on black, light brown on breast and throat. It has a fondness for sliding down hill and in early days other slides were frequently found along the streams.

Skunk, a pest to farmers and poultry raisers, but also a consumer of numbers of insects and grubs. Its fur is valuable but is always sold under assumed names.

Badger, a burrowing animal once plentiful, now extinct. Its color was a grizzled grey. Like the oppossum it would remain perfectly motionless when surprised.

Mink formerly very plentiful but now scarce. Its fur is valuable, comparing favorably with seal. Color varies from yellowish brown to dark, and some almost black. Small head, long neck, and short legs. It is a fierce fighter, but can be easily tamed if taken young and when trained performs even better than the ferret.

Weasel, closely related to the mink, but smaller. It has a small head, long neck, long slim body, short legs, light brown in summer and pure white in winter (similar to its royal cousin, the ermine) except the tip of the tail, which is jet black. It is in constant search of birds, but will also eat rats, mice, squirrels and other small animals.

Of the two species, the Marten and the Fisher, the Fisher is the largest, resembling the wolverine. Its diet is mice as well as fish. The fisher prefers to live in low places near the water, while the marten makes its home in a hollow tree, or a cavern in a rock ledge. The furs of both species are valuable. Marten fur is very beautiful, a pelt containing in reality, three kinds. The fur next to the skin is soft and wooly, the second coat soft and kinky, and the third coat long, glossy and bristly to the roots.

Beaver the best known and most profitable of all the fur bearers. The Indians used the flesh of the beaver, as well as trapping for the fur, and the flesh of broad flat tail was a delicacy. The dams of the beaver are inevidence on nearly every stream in this county. This animal has been reduced to small numbers but a few colonies are still on Jackson Creek and also some of the streams in the north part of the county. They’re profitable and their number diminished rapidly.

The squirrel family has seven distinct species. The largest of this family is the woodchuck celebrated as a weather prophet. It eats anything green and is a pest in a garden. Its hair is grey and coarse. It is a burrowing animal, though, it climbs fences and small trees. Another of the species is the chipmunk the smallest and most handsome, but is disliked by the hunter, as it is called the tattle tale of the woods. The red squirrel is the most numerous. Its color is dark reddish brown and almost white beneath, with a rusty colored tail with a black fringe. The grey squirrel was as common as the red squirrel but is nearly extinct. The fox squirrel is occasionally found here but rarely. Another rare member is the flying squirrel It has a fold of skin on each side of the boy from the front to the hind leg and this enable it to make long leaps from tree to tree. It is grey in color, has large bright eyes and makes a wonderful pet when tamed. And then there was the black squirrel, which was considered a break offspring from the grey variety.

Porcupine, a true climbing animal, is always in search of birds and eggs. It is a clumsy, sluggish animal, repulsive in looks, having a coarse grey hair covering intermingled with long, sharp, stiff quills, which are barbed and its chief weapon of defense. Tradition says the animal throws its quills, but this is not true. The animal merely loosens its quills when attacked and the barbs stick to the mouth of the dogs or anything making the attack. Porcupine meat is high esteemed among the Indians, and the quills are dyed and used in making ornaments.

Snow-shoe Hare varies in size and color in different localities and in the several seasons. The general color is grey to brown in summer and white in winter. The flesh is prized as food and the fur when dyed is the high priced coney fur used in the fur trade.

There are a variety of small animals. The bat, an insect eating variety, a small creature of nocturnal habits, by some, called the mosquito hawk. It flies by night and hides during the day under leaves, in unused chimneys and dark corners. The brown mole a burrowing animal and an insect-eater. Field or wood mice common and very destructive. Muskrat a valuable member of the rodent family. Is semi-aquatic like the beaver. Builds houses of mud and reeds in swamps and quiet streams and sometimes in the banks. Has brown fur of a commercial value and sometimes is substituted for mink fur.

There are a number of birds in the summer months, possibly two hundred and fifty species, but the most common are the eagles, hawks, ravens, crows, owls, herons, blackbirds, ducks, geese, pigeons, grouse, jays, woodpeckers, kingsfishers, snipe, plover, loons, coots, swallows, martius, sparrows, titwits, shrikes, grosbeaks, waxwings, creepers, wrens, and humming birds. The song birds include the wild canaries, robins, larks, meadow larks, thrushes, bluebirds, warblers, and goldfinchers. The bald eagle is the largest of the birds and the ruby-throated humming bird is the smallest. The birds of beautiful plumage range from the grey braut to the scarlet tanager and the golden woodpecker.

The streams, inland lakes and the Great Lake Superior are filled with fish. Lake Superior furnishes the celebrated lake trout and the whitefish in particular, sturgeon, pickerel and many others. The inland lakes supply the angler and sportsman with the gausy species known as black, green, rock, calico, and Aswegolbass, wall-eye, pike, pickerel, land-locked salmon, and in the Manitowish waters in the south portion of the county. The rivers and streams furnish many varieties of trout—native brook, soo rapids, rainbow German brown and others. Also, there are the lowly bullhead, catfish, lawyers, gill-fish, gar-pike, suckers and carp.

The serpent life is limited to a few harmless species, the striped garter snake, grey puff adder, the swamp snake, small black snake, crimson belly, and a constrictor known as the pine snake, the largest in the county but very rare. These snakes have been known to attain a length of twenty feet. Turtles are of but three species, the mud turtle, the painted tortoise and the snapping turtle.

Amphibians—Toads are represented by the common garden variety, Frogs by but two varieties, both small. The hylos, commonly called tree toad, is a variety that changes color to conform to the object it is resting upon. Spotted and striped salamanders are closely related to the frog. Water dog, called by fishermen "hell-bender," a hideous specimen of the lizard family.