A multi-year study of northern bog lemmings in Montana was begun in 1992. Objectives 

 during 1995 included: 



1) surveying at least 4 sites with potential habitat for bog lemmings in northwest Montana 

 on the Garnet Resource Area; and, 



2) updating an annotated bibliography of northern bog lemming literature. 



METHODS AND MATERIALS 



I visited 12 sites on or near Bureau of Land Management lands on the Garnet Resource Area 

 (BLM-GRA) in western Montana, examining riparian habitats to determine their suitability for 

 northern bog lemmings. The four most suitable sites were trapped (Table 1), while eight 

 additional sites were examined but not trapped. These sites included (Table 2): very small 

 riparian areas; standing water with only very narrow fen border; homogeneous vegetation (sedges 

 only for example) lacking moss mats; or cattail marshes. Most sites examined were suggested by 

 biologists and others from the Bureau of Land Management and Montana Natural Heritage 

 Program; several others were identified while in the field or by examining maps of the general 

 area. 



From 21-25 August 1995 Museum Special snap-traps were used to sample 4 sites on the 

 BLM-GRA. Traps were baited with a combination of peanut butter and rolled oats, either alone 

 or with E. J. Dailey's muskrat lure. Two traps with different baits were placed within 2 m of each 

 other at each station. We placed each trap at a station to maximize success (runway, burrow, 

 etc.). Stations were placed 5-30 m apart. 



Trapping effort ranged from 204 to 230 trap-nights over 2 nights. A trap-night constitutes one 

 trap set for one 24-hour period (traps sprung and empty, or completely missing, are not counted). 



RESULTS 



Northern bog lemmings were not captured at any of the four sites trapped (Tables 1). At 

 each site however, 1-5 species of other small mammals were captured (Table 3). These included 

 masked shrews {Sorex cinereus), vagrant shrews {Sorex vagrans), water shrews {Sorex palustris), 

 western jumping mice {Zapus princeps), meadow voles {Microtus pennsylvanicus), montane 

 voles {Microtus montanus) and red-backed voles {Clethrionomys gapperi). Some shrews will 

 need the preliminary field identification verified when the skulls are cleaned. 



