California mammals

Northern Montane Shrew in California

Sorex obscurus

Native to California

Not listed as nonindigenous in California by USGS NAS; treated as native to its mapped California range.

IUCN Red List status

NE – Not Evaluated

Not yet assessed against IUCN Red List criteria.

Live northern montane shrew standing alert on sunlit sphagnum moss with dry grass stems around itAI-generated image: Northern montane shrew foraging in meadow grass and moss. No additional license-safe photograph of this species exists. This image was generated with AI from verified reference material and reviewed by our editorial team for accuracyAI-generated image: Northern montane shrew paused in damp leaf litter. No additional license-safe photograph of this species exists. This image was generated with AI from verified reference material and reviewed by our editorial team for accuracy
Photo: Aandroski · CC BY-SA 4.0Live northern montane shrew standing alert on sunlit sphagnum moss with dry grass stems around itAI-generated image No additional license-safe photograph of this species exists. This image was generated with AI from verified reference material and reviewed by our editorial team for accuracyNorthern montane shrew foraging in meadow grass and mossAI-generated image No additional license-safe photograph of this species exists. This image was generated with AI from verified reference material and reviewed by our editorial team for accuracyNorthern montane shrew paused in damp leaf litter

Northern Montane Shrew in California, by the numbers

Rare in California 199th most recorded of 241 mammals logged in California

17 occurrence records
2 with iNaturalist photos

Records from 2000–2026.

When to look for the Northern Montane Shrew in California

Most sightings fall in September.

17 California 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 California records (table)
MonthRecords
January0
February0
March0
April0
May0
June0
July4
August4
September7
October1
November1
December0

Monthly northern montane shrew occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) in California, 2000–2026.

Seasonality

Year-round in California, with recorded sightings peaking in September.

Occurrence map

Where Northern Montane Shrew has been recorded in California

17 records mapped · zoom and drag to explore

17 California records mapped

Notable places to look

Park, forest, or monumentiNaturalist records
Sequoia National Park 1

Protected places with the most northern montane 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 California

CountyRecords
Fresno County 15
Tulare County 1
Mono County 1

The complete county distribution, spread across 3 California counties. Every occurrence record falls in one county, so these sum to the total. Counties from GBIF and US Census boundaries.

California’s combined state files contain 16 Northern montane shrew records: 0 from iNaturalist and 16 from GBIF. It ranks 199th among 241 mammals in this California record comparison, placing it in the lower third. That’s a ranking of submitted records, not a head count of animals.

The monthly series reaches its high point in September, with 7 records in the busiest month. Records appear in 4 of 12 months, so the pattern shows when sightings were documented, not when the species must be present or absent.

California accounts for about 9% of the mapped GBIF records summarized on the national Northern montane shrew page. That’s a modest share of the known record footprint, though differences in survey effort can strongly shape the percentage.

Occurrence data from iNaturalist and GBIF.

Live northern montane shrew standing alert on sunlit sphagnum moss with dry grass stems around it
Full species profile Northern Montane Shrew Sorex obscurus Size 7.6 cm3 in Weight 7 g0.2 oz View the full profile

More mammals in California 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"