Oklahoma mammals

Northern Short-tailed Shrew in Oklahoma

Blarina brevicauda

Native to Oklahoma S2 Imperiled in Oklahoma

Not listed as nonindigenous in Oklahoma by USGS NAS; native to its Oklahoma range.

IUCN Red List status

  1. LC
  2. NT
  3. VU
  4. EN
  5. CR
  6. EW
  7. EX

LC – Least Concern

Widespread and abundant; not at risk.

Northern Short-tailed Shrew (Blarina brevicauda)Blarina brevicaudaLive northern short-tailed shrew in green grass
Photo: Will Kuhn · CC BY 4.0Northern Short-tailed Shrew (Blarina brevicauda)Photo: Gilles Gonthier from Canada · CC BY 2.0Blarina brevicaudaPhoto: Glynn Morris · CC BY 4.0Live northern short-tailed shrew in green grass

Northern Short-tailed Shrew in Oklahoma, by the numbers

Rare in Oklahoma 100th most recorded of 120 mammals logged in Oklahoma

2 occurrence records

Records from 2000–2026.

When to look for the Northern Short-tailed Shrew in Oklahoma

Most sightings fall in June.

2 Oklahoma 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 Oklahoma records (table)
MonthRecords
January0
February0
March0
April0
May0
June2
July0
August0
September0
October0
November0
December0

Monthly northern short-tailed shrew occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) in Oklahoma, 2000–2026.

Seasonality

Sparse observation record in Oklahoma; presence confirmed but timing of activity not well documented.

Occurrence map

Where Northern Short-tailed Shrew has been recorded in Oklahoma

2 records mapped · zoom and drag to explore

2 Oklahoma records mapped

Where it's recorded in Oklahoma

CountyRecords
Muskogee County 2

The complete county distribution, spread across 1 Oklahoma counties. Every occurrence record falls in one county, so these sum to the total. Counties from GBIF and US Census boundaries.

Since 2000, Oklahoma has just 2 records of the northern short-tailed shrew, both from Muskogee County and both from June. An animal that hunts under leaf litter and sod is easy to miss. Records say where people looked, not where shrews live.

This shrew is one of the very few venomous mammals on Earth; its toxic saliva lets it overpower prey nearly its own size, from worms and insects to mice and voles.

NatureServe ranks it S2, imperiled in Oklahoma, near the southwestern edge of its range. With so few recent records, its real Oklahoma footprint is still waiting to be found by anyone willing to look.

Occurrence data from GBIF.

Northern Short-tailed Shrew (Blarina brevicauda)
Full species profile Northern Short-tailed Shrew Blarina brevicauda Size 11.1 cm4.4 in Weight 21 g0.7 oz Lifespan Up to 2.2 yr View the full profile

More mammals in Oklahoma 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