Cinereus shrew records in the Uintas and Wasatch fit cool, moist forest floor, meadow edge, and streamside litter. One of North America’s smallest mammals, it burns energy rapidly and hunts insects, spiders, and other tiny invertebrates almost continuously beneath leaves and fallen wood.
August leads Utah’s 84 reports, when high-elevation sites are most accessible and young shrews may be moving beyond natal cover. Trap placement and field schedules strongly shape that pulse, so it does not measure shrew numbers. Moist ground and a deep litter layer matter more than broad mountain labels because the animal can desiccate quickly in exposed, arid terrain.
Utah lists the cinereus shrew as S3, vulnerable, and every one of its 84 Utah records comes from GBIF trapping and museum data, not iNaturalist. That gap reflects how easily this shrew is missed without live-trapping, not year-round scarcity.
Full species profile
