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Vagrant shrew
Sorex vagrans
NatureServe conservation status
Global (G-rank): G5
State (S-rank): S3S4
External links
Species range
Junge and Hoffmann (1981) mapped the Utah distribution of this species to include much of the northwestern part of Utah (perhaps 1/6 of the state). It should be noted that the concept of this species has changed repeatedly in recent years, resulting in much confusion in the literature and making many "respected" sources (e.g., Hall [1981]) thoroughly unreliable for information regarding this and several other Utah soricids.
Habitat
In view of the much-changed concept of this species, older literature discussing this species is not considered reliable. Thus, Zeveloff's (1988) general description of the habitat of this species (not specific to Utah) may be the best available until new habitat data for this species can be collected in Utah: "Vagrant shrews largely occur in wetter areas within conifer forests but are also found in more arid locales, such as sagebrush prairies. Wet places that they inhabit include cattail and tule marshes, sphagnum bogs, and areas with lush fern growth. Compared to dusky shrews [SOREX MONTICOLUS], they seem less capable of surviving at high altitudes, in boreal forests, or on dry soils. Within the Uinta Mountains proper, dusky shrews appear to occur alone, but both vagrant and dusky shrews occupy the lower slopes of the western Uintas." See Kirkland (1981) for discussion of this species and SOREX MONTICOLUS in the Uinta Mountain region of Utah.
Threats or limiting factors
Threats to this species in Utah are not known.
