New Hampshire mammals

American water shrew in New Hampshire

Sorex palustris

Native to New Hampshire

Not listed as nonindigenous in New Hampshire by USGS NAS; treated as native to its mapped New Hampshire range.

IUCN Red List status

  1. LC
  2. NT
  3. VU
  4. EN
  5. CR
  6. EW
  7. EX

LC – Least Concern

Widespread and abundant; not at risk.

American water shrew swimming at the surface of a stream, seen from aboveAmerican water shrew swimming just below the surface of Pebble CreekAmerican water shrew paddling across a shallow, foam-edged stream
Photo: NPS / April Henderson · Public domainAmerican water shrew swimming at the surface of a stream, seen from abovePhoto: NPS / April Henderson · Public domainAmerican water shrew swimming in Pebble Creek, Yellowstone National ParkPhoto: NPS / April Henderson · Public domainAmerican water shrew crossing a foam-edged stretch of Pebble Creek

American water shrew in New Hampshire, by the numbers

Occasional in New Hampshire 36th most recorded of 76 mammals logged in New Hampshire

43 occurrence records

Records from 2000–2026.

When to look for the American water shrew in New Hampshire

Most sightings fall in July to September.

43 New Hampshire occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) by month of year, 2000–2026. Shows when the species is recorded, not a guarantee of presence.

Monthly New Hampshire records (table)
MonthRecords
January0
February0
March1
April0
May1
June1
July16
August11
September11
October2
November0
December0

Monthly american water shrew occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) in New Hampshire, 2000–2026.

Seasonality

Year-round in New Hampshire, with recorded sightings peaking in July–September.

Occurrence map

Where American water shrew has been recorded in New Hampshire

43 records mapped · zoom and drag to explore

43 New Hampshire records mapped

Notable places to look

Park, forest, or monumentiNaturalist records
Appalachian National Scenic Trail 6
Franconia Notch State Park 3

Protected places with the most american water shrew sightings, from the USGS Protected Areas Database plus named mountain ranges, good spots to look, not a full breakdown, so they don't sum to the total.

Where it's recorded in New Hampshire

CountyRecords
Carroll County 24
Coos County 13
Grafton County 5
Belknap County 1

The complete county distribution, spread across 4 New Hampshire counties. Every occurrence record falls in one county, so these sum to the total. Counties from GBIF and US Census boundaries.

The New Hampshire overlay contains 43 American water shrew records from 2000–2026, all supplied by GBIF. Thirty-eight fall between July and September, including 16 in July and 11 in each of August and September. That calendar pattern reflects documented encounters, not shrew abundance.

The seacoast, Great Bay National Wildlife Refuge, and Odiorne Point State Park are the overlay’s three suggested search areas. With no iNaturalist records and no dated entries in six months of the year, the open-data record is too uneven to turn those suggestions into a claim about distribution.

American water shrew swimming at the surface of a stream, seen from above
Full species profile American water shrew Sorex palustris Size 8 cm3.1 in Weight 8–18 g0.3–0.6 oz Lifespan Up to 1.5 yr View the full profile

More mammals in New Hampshire in the atlas

Data & sources

The data and visualizations on this page draw on these open sources:

  • GBIFCC-BY 4.0occurrence records behind the range map, elevation, and record counts
  • iNaturalistCC0 / CC-BY / CC-BY-SAobservations, photos, and audio recordings
  • IUCN Red Listattributed factthe global conservation status
  • USGS NASpublic domainnative / introduced status
  • Natural Earthpublic domainthe relief basemap
  • USFSpublic domainnational-forest boundaries
  • USGS Protected Areas Databasepublic domainthe named parks, forests, and refuges behind "notable places to look"