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[[underlined]] Boreal Islands [[/underlined]]

The spring water is icy cold and the best trapping ground I have found for sherews and boreal mammals is in these springy, swampy bottoms of gulches in the timber. At Stump Lake near the eastern end are similar spring bogs & cold willow gulches where Canadian zone willows, poplars, balsam poplars, Pyrola secunda & such plants grow. These are as typical Boreal Islands as are the sphagnum swamps of the east and they account in large measure for the apparent mixture of zones or overlapping.

Aspens grow commonly in cold gulches on slopes where snow drifts unusually deep, on flat spots where spring water comes close to the surface and along streams or marshes of spring water, around Devil's, Stump, Basswood & Red Willow lakes and farther south. So do Balsam poplar & many other Canadian species.

The temperature of the spring water at Stump lake is 40[[degree symbol]] in winter, 42[[degree symbol]] in summer.