Kentucky holds just 10 southern bog lemming records, and every one of the state’s listed watch sites sits in the far-western wetlands rather than the uplands.
Wetlands of the far west, not bogs specifically
Despite the name, this species isn’t tied to true bogs. It lives in wet meadows, sedge beds, and grassy openings wherever the ground stays damp, and in Kentucky that habitat is concentrated in the bottomland wetlands of the far west, around Land Between the Lakes, the Clarks River bottoms of the Jackson Purchase, and the Mississippi Alluvial Plain near Reelfoot National Wildlife Refuge.
Runways hidden in sedge and grass
Bog lemmings cut narrow paths through dense sedge and grass, building round nests low to the ground and feeding mostly on green plant material, sedges, roots, and grass stems. Those runways stay hidden beneath the same wet meadow cover that defines its Kentucky range, part of why so few records exist even though the species doesn’t hibernate and stays active through the whole year.
Status in Kentucky
The southern bog lemming is native to Kentucky, and NatureServe ranks it S4, apparently secure. A record this thin, concentrated entirely in the state’s western wetlands, points to a habitat that’s naturally patchy rather than an animal in trouble.
Full species profile
