Water Shrew 49 



Heritage Inventory Program). Three individuals are known from a 

 single locality in Bath County, Virginia, and five from three localities 

 in Highlands County, Virginia (Pagels and Tate 1976, Pagels 1987, 

 Handley 1991, and J. Pagels, personal communication). Thirteen 

 records are known from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, 

 Sevier County, Tennessee (Conaway and Pfitzer 1952, Linzey and 

 Linzey 1968), and Harvey et al. (1991) report an additional 18 speci- 

 mens from four localities in Monroe County, Tennessee. In North 

 Carolina it is known from five individuals from Clay County and one 

 specimen from Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Swain 

 County (Whitaker et al. 1975, Linzey 1983, Webster 1987). 



Compared to other soricids in the southeastern United States, 

 Sorex palustris appears to be rare. Sorex p. punctulatus is considered 

 a Category 2 taxon by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, is 

 listed as endangered in Virginia (Virginia Department of Game and 

 Inland Fisheries), and is considered a species of special concern 

 in North Carolina (North Carolina Natural Heritage Program) and 

 Tennessee (Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency). Although other 

 soricids, such a Sorex hoyi and Sorex dispar, that historically have 

 been considered extremely rare are now known to be more widely 

 distributed and more common than previously believed (Pagels 1987, 

 Handley 1991, Laerm et al 1994), the water shrew appears to be the 

 rarest and most localized shrew in the southeastern United States. 

 Additional surveys for the water shrew are required to assess its 

 true status. 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS— This study was supported through a 

 cooperative funding agreement between the United States Forest 

 Service, Chatahoochee National Forest, and The University of 

 Georgia Museum of Natural History. 



LITERATURE CITED 



Beneski, J. T., Jr., and D. W. Stinson. 1987. Sorex palustris. Mam- 

 malian Species 296:1-6. 



Conaway, C. S., and D. W. Pfitzer. 1952. Sorex palustris and Sorex 

 dispar from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Journal 

 of Mammalogy 33:106-108. 



Doutt, J. K., C. A. Heppenstall, and J. E. Guilday. 1966. Mammals 

 of Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Game Commission, Harrisburg. 



