16 Mary K. Clark, David S. Lee, John B. Funderburg, Jr. 



presented for 12 habitats in Table 1 and for the 10 Coastal Plain coun- 

 ties surveyed in Table 2. Typically, only 10 mammal species were 

 encountered on a regular basis, and only 8 species were found in 50 

 percent or more of the habitats studied. However, 20 species were 

 recorded in 50 percent or more of the counties surveyed, suggesting that 

 habitat was far more locally restrictive to distribution than was geo- 

 graphy. Disturbed habitats with early successional communities yielded 

 the greatest diversity and density. 



During this study only 366 mammal specimens were trapped in 

 9,472 trap-nights, but many additional animals were obtained by other 

 means, and approximately 450 specimens were taken from borders of 

 pocosin communities (7,000+ trap-nights). A composite trap yield suc- 

 cess for all pocosin habitats sampled was 5.13 percent; trap success was 

 generally higher for surrounding communities. Voucher specimens and 

 series of the common species collected at each study site are deposited in 

 the mammal collection of the North Carolina State Museum (NCSM). 



SPECIES ACCOUNTS 



Marsupialia: Opossums 

 Didelphis virginiana virginiana Kerr, Virginia Opossum. Although 

 common throughout a wide range of Coastal Plain habitats and abun- 

 dant in certain parts of Bladen County, the opossum is not usually asso- 

 ciated with pocosins or Carolina bays and individuals were rarely 

 observed in or around these habitats. Only one specimen was taken 

 from the Dare County mainland and over a four-year period few road- 

 killed individuals were seen there. This species is only slightly more 

 common on the sand rims of bays. 



Insectivora: Shrews and Moles 



Sorex longirostris ssp., Southeastern Shrew. This shrew is uncommon 

 but is found in a wide variety of habitats, including sand ridges adjacent 

 to stream-head forests with dense ground cover of Aristida, shrubby 

 ecotones of stream-head forests, /wwci/s-dominated clearings, and ever- 

 green and deciduous bay forests. In Bladen, Dare and Hoke counties 

 the subspecies represented is Sorex I. longirostris Bachman. Pagels et al. 

 (1982) noted that their records for this race were evenly divided between 

 open fields and young forests where ground cover is heavy. One speci- 

 men of Sorex I. fisher i Merriam (NCSM 2723) was collected by us in a 

 swamp forest in Currituck County. Rose (1981a) collected individuals of 

 fisheri in openings dominated by herbaceous vegetation in the Dismal 

 Swamp. Both races are apparently absent from typical pocosin (shrub 

 bog) communities. 



Blarina sp., Short-tailed shrews. The systematics of Blarina in the 



