Washington mammals

Northern Montane Shrew in Washington

Sorex obscurus

Native to Washington S4 Apparently Secure in Washington

Not listed as nonindigenous in Washington by USGS NAS; native to its Washington 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 Washington, by the numbers

Occasional in Washington 61st most recorded of 145 mammals logged in Washington

128 occurrence records

Records from 2000–2026.

When to look for the Northern Montane Shrew in Washington

Most sightings fall in August to September.

128 Washington occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) by month of year, 2000–2026. Shows when the species is recorded, not a guarantee of presence.

Monthly Washington records (table)
MonthRecords
January0
February0
March0
April0
May0
June18
July24
August51
September31
October4
November0
December0

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

Seasonality

Year-round in Washington, with recorded sightings peaking in August–September.

Occurrence map

Where Northern Montane Shrew has been recorded in Washington

128 records mapped · zoom and drag to explore

128 Washington records mapped

Notable places to look

Park, forest, or monumentiNaturalist records
Washington State Department of Natural Resources (WADNR) State Resource Management Area 84

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 Washington

CountyRecords
Clark County 84
Skamania County 42
Grays Harbor County 1
Thurston County 1

The complete county distribution, spread across 4 Washington counties. Every occurrence record falls in one county, so these sum to the total. Counties from GBIF and US Census boundaries.

In this state overlay, sorex obscurus appears in 128 combined occurrence records. iNaturalist supplies 0 records and GBIF 128, a contrast explaining why the combined total is not a simple sum.

The strongest month is August (51 records), whereas the quietest is January (0). County tallies name Clark, Skamania, Grays Harbor, and Thurston, and the only named place tally points to Washington’s DNR-managed state resource lands. Observer access, surveys, and archives shape this pattern, so it should not be called abundance.

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 Washington 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
  • NatureServe ExplorerCC-BYthe state conservation rank
  • 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"