West Virginia mammals

American water shrew in West Virginia

Sorex palustris

Native to West Virginia

Not listed as nonindigenous in West Virginia by USGS NAS; treated as native to its mapped West Virginia 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 West Virginia, by the numbers

Occasional in West Virginia 44th most recorded of 77 mammals logged in West Virginia

12 occurrence records

Records from 2000–2026.

12 total records count every West Virginia occurrence from GBIF and iNaturalist; the monthly chart covers the 10 records with a full observation date.

When to look for the American water shrew in West Virginia

Most sightings fall in October.

10 West Virginia occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) by month of year, 2000–2026. Shows when the species is recorded, not a guarantee of presence. Based on a small number of dated records; the seasonal pattern may not be representative.

Monthly West Virginia records (table)
MonthRecords
January0
February0
March0
April0
May0
June0
July3
August1
September0
October6
November0
December0

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

Seasonality

Sparse observation record in West Virginia; presence confirmed but timing of activity not well documented.

Occurrence map

Where American water shrew has been recorded in West Virginia

12 records mapped · zoom and drag to explore

12 West Virginia records mapped

Notable places to look

Park, forest, or monumentiNaturalist records
Cheat Wildlife Management Area 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 West Virginia

CountyRecords
Pocahontas County 7
Randolph County 3
Preston County 1
Pendleton County 1

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

Only 12 American water shrew records appear in West Virginia for 2000–2026, all from GBIF. Six are dated to October and three to July, with single records in August; such a small, clustered series records encounters rather than population abundance.

The Ohio River valley, New River Gorge National Park and Preserve, and local wildlife management areas are the search areas named here. Because eight months have no entries and iNaturalist contributes none, this overlay cannot establish a reliable activity season or a complete state range.

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 West Virginia 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"