Wisconsin’s arctic shrew records tell two stories at once. The heaviest single cluster is Dane County, with 24 reports, far south of the species’ core range and almost certainly a reflection of the university and museum community in Madison rather than a shrew hotspot. The more natural pattern sits farther north, across Price, Vilas, Oneida, Lincoln, Ashland, and Bayfield counties, where cool bogs and wet conifer forest match what this boreal shrew needs. Statewide, 104 records have accumulated since 2000, spread across 18 counties.
The calendar tilts later than you’d expect. Reports peak in September and October rather than midsummer, a pattern consistent with fall trapping, when small-mammal surveyors are most likely to catch a shrew and get a firm identification. NatureServe ranks the species apparently secure in Wisconsin, and the spread of northern counties with at least a few records supports that reading. A July 2026 report shows the record is still growing.
Full species profile
