American ermine reports in Michigan span 35 counties, from Washtenaw and Ingham in the south to Houghton, Marquette, and Keweenaw on the Upper Peninsula, with single records at Isle Royale National Park and Ottawa National Forest. iNaturalist supplies 89 of the 91 records, and GBIF lists 57, most of them the same sightings.
Sightings peak in June and July, when the animal’s brown summer coat makes it easier to spot against green cover than its white winter coat against snow. NatureServe ranks the species S4, Apparently Secure, in Michigan; the modest record count says more about how rarely this small, fast-moving predator is noticed than about scarcity.
Full species profile
