Cinereus shrews, also called masked shrews, are heavily documented in West Virginia relative to most small mammals in this tier, 60 records, but 58 of them come from GBIF rather than casual photographs, meaning trapping surveys, not people spotting the animal, drive nearly everything known here. NatureServe rates the state population S4, apparently secure, and Dolly Sods Wilderness’s high-elevation bog and heath habitat provides exactly the cool, moist ground cover this shrew needs.
October alone accounts for 28 of the 60 records, nearly half the year’s total, with nothing at all recorded from January through March, a pattern that plausibly reflects a concentrated fall trapping survey rather than any real seasonal surge in shrew activity, since this species stays active year-round without hibernating.
Full species profile
