Idaho’s northern bog lemming records belong to the Panhandle. Bonner County holds 15 of the 18 reports, with Boundary and Kootenai counties adding the rest, a clean sweep of the state’s far northern lake and mountain country. The species is a creature of cold, wet ground: sphagnum bogs, wet meadows, and spruce-forest seeps, and the Panhandle holds Idaho’s best supply of it.
All the dated reports fall between June and September, cresting in August. That’s the short window when high northern wetlands are snow-free and researchers can work them, so the summer-only calendar reflects access more than the lemming, which stays active under the snow all winter.
The wildlife refuges named farther south have produced no records, and with just 18 reports statewide the species’ true Idaho footprint is anyone’s guess. Bog lemmings are famously easy to miss even where they’re established, turning up in one trap line and vanishing from the next.
Full species profile
