88 Pygmy Shrew 



west of the Blue Ridge where they were unknown before 1980 (Pagels 

 1987). 



In North Carolina, the pygmy shrew is considered to be rare and 

 of undetermined status (Webster 1987), in part because only three 

 specimens, all from the extreme western mountainous region of the 

 state, have been found. Of these, two specimens are from Bent Creek 

 (23 April 1928), Buncombe County, and the other (6 September 1941) 

 from Newfound Gap in nearby Swain County (Webster 1987). 



During extensive studies of the southeastern shrew in the vicinity 

 of the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge (Refuge) of 

 southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina from 1986-91, 

 we collected Sorex hoyi from Camden and Gates counties, in extreme 

 northeastern North Carolina. These represent the first documented 

 specimens of Sorex hoyi from North Carolina in nearly 50 years, as 

 well as the first of this species from the Coastal Plain (Lee et al. 

 1982). 



METHODS 



We used pitfall traps, consisting of #10 metal cans sunk flush 

 into the ground and half-filled with water, to collect small mammals. 

 Pitfall traps are very effective in trapping small cryptic mammals 

 such as shrews (Padgett 1991). These traps offer advantages in that 

 they do not need to be checked daily, are relatively maintenance free, 

 and capture small shrews (and some other species of small mammals) 

 that normally are difficult to collect in other traps. We placed pitfall 

 traps in transects along roads and trails at measured intervals or in 

 0.25-ha grids spaced 12.5 m apart in 5 x 5 arrays. Each transect or 

 grid was trapped for 3-4 weeks. 



One Gates County site was located along Weyerhaeuser Ditch in 

 the Refuge 2 km north of Highway 158, and the other was a transect 

 extending from the escarpment on the western boundary of the Refuge 

 into the swamp. This transect was located 2 km northeast of the 

 intersection of Route 32 and State Route 1332. The Camden County 

 grids were located on a large tract 9 km east-northeast of South 

 Mills. 



RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 



We collected 15 Sorex hoyi, referable to S. h. winnemana, during 

 the course of our survey, nine from the southern section of the Refuge 

 in Gates County and six outside the Refuge on three grids in Camden 

 County. Within the Refuge, eight animals were collected from the 

 site adjacent to Weyerhaeuser Ditch. This site was located in an 



