Notes on Kentucky Shrews 95 



to the higher elevations of the Appalachian Mountains, with extensions 

 along riparian corridors draining the high slopes. There is, however, a 

 recent record from Wabash County in southern Illinois (see Diersing 

 1980). North of Kentucky the pygmy shrew has been reported from a 

 variety of habitats, including bluegrass pasture, mature woodland, 

 marsh, and brushland (Long 1972b), often where two habitats are in 

 close proximity (Brown 1967; Spencer and Pettus 1966). 



Barbour and Davis (1974) noted that there was a specimen from 

 the state with no locality data in the University of Kentucky collection. 

 Caldwell (1980) reported the first Kentucky pygmy shrews with specific 

 locality information. These were taken at elevations above 600 msl in 

 Harlan and Letcher counties (Fig. IE). The habitat was cool, mesic 

 forests in the terraces of small streams where rock outcrops, boulders, 

 and fallen logs were numerous. We recently collected this shrew in ripar- 

 ian woodlands at low elevations. In eastern Kentucky, two were taken 

 in a narrow wooded corridor adjacent to cropland along the Little 

 Sandy River, Greenup County (elevation 150 msl). Another was col- 

 lected along Sinking Creek in west-central Kentucky, Breckinridge 

 County. It was found in a similar narrow (5-10 m) wooded corridor 

 next to a cornfield. At both locations, typical stream border trees such 

 as sycamore, silver maple, box elder, and river birch were the dominant 

 species. The soil in these riparian habitats was sandy, and periodic 

 flooding had prevented accumulation of a deep layer of organic litter. 

 Tree stumps, logs, and brushpiles provided cover. We also collected 

 pygmy shrews in rich mesophytic forests with a well-developed litter 

 layer in Ohio County along the Rough River, and in northwestern 

 Warren County on the edge of the Dripping Springs Escarpment. The 

 overstory of these mature forest habitats was dominated by beech, sugar 

 maple, and yellow poplar. Soils were loamy in texture and were not 

 periodically flooded. The species was collected in both xeric and mesic 

 hardwood forest by biologists from the Department of Forestry at the 

 University of Kentucky's Robinson Forest, Breathitt County (J. Mor- 

 iarty and W. McComb, pers. comm.). 



Sorex palustris Richardson, Water Shrew — This shrew has not 

 been taken in Kentucky in Recent times although it occurred here dur- 

 ing the Pleistocene (Guilday, et al. 1971). However, the species has been 

 taken in the highlands of Southern Appalachia to the east and south of 

 Kentucky (Conaway and Pfitzer 1952; Hooper 1942; Pagels and Tate 

 1976; Whitaker, et al. 1975). It is still possible that an isolated popula- 

 tion of the species may be found in the state. 



Species Associations 



We found several Kentucky sites inhabited by more than one spe- 



