Nebraska sits near the western edge of the southern bog lemming’s range, and its 36 records are spread thin to match: 12 counties, none holding more than 7 reports. The records lean to the southeast, where Gage, Richardson, and Cass counties lead the list, with an outlier group in Dundy County in the state’s southwest. A scatter like that suggests a species that reaches into Nebraska wherever it finds the right wet ground, not one concentrated anywhere.
Late-year reports, and what they mean
Fifteen of the 36 records were logged in November, with a smaller May rise of 11. Because these lemmings don’t hibernate and travel under snow through the winter, a late-autumn crest most likely marks when trap lines were out, not when the animals were. With 36 records spread over more than two decades, no single month carries much signal.
Habitat on paper versus records on the map
The wet-meadow country that suits the species best, the Sandhills wetlands around Valentine and Crescent Lake national wildlife refuges and the grassy margins of the Platte River, holds exactly the dense, damp cover it needs, yet confirmed records haven’t piled up at any of those places. NatureServe leaves the species unranked in Nebraska (SU), meaning there isn’t enough information to grade its standing. For a secretive rodent at the edge of its range, that unresolved grade fits a state where the record is still being written.
Full species profile
