Wyoming mammals

Western Water Shrew in Wyoming

Sorex navigator

Native to Wyoming S4 Apparently Secure in Wyoming

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

IUCN Red List status

NE – Not Evaluated

Not yet assessed against IUCN Red List criteria.

Western water shrew at the grassy edge of a streamAI-generated image: Western water shrew foraging along wet streamside stones. 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: Western water shrew crouched on a wet rock above dark water. 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: velodrome · CC BY 4.0Western water shrew at the grassy edge of a streamAI-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 accuracyWestern water shrew foraging along wet streamside stonesAI-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 accuracyWestern water shrew crouched on a wet rock above dark water

Western Water Shrew in Wyoming, by the numbers

Occasional in Wyoming 59th most recorded of 126 mammals logged in Wyoming

49 occurrence records
4 with iNaturalist photos
Dec 16, 2023 Last seen in Wyoming

Records from 2000–2026.

When to look for the Western Water Shrew in Wyoming

Most sightings fall in August.

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

Monthly Wyoming records (table)
MonthRecords
January0
February0
March0
April0
May0
June9
July10
August29
September0
October0
November0
December1

Monthly western water shrew occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) in Wyoming, 2000–2026.

Seasonality

Year-round in Wyoming, with recorded sightings peaking in August.

Occurrence map

Where Western Water Shrew has been recorded in Wyoming

49 records mapped · zoom and drag to explore

49 Wyoming records mapped

Notable places to look

Park, forest, or monumentiNaturalist records
Cloud Peak Wilderness 3
Yellowstone National Park 1
Morgan Creek Wildlife Habitat Management Area 1

Protected places with the most western water 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 Wyoming

CountyRecords
Sheridan County 36
Big Horn County 6
Albany County 2
Teton County 1
Park County 1
Johnson County 1
Sublette County 1
Carbon County 1

The complete county distribution, spread across 8 Wyoming counties. Every occurrence record falls in one county, so these sum to the total. Counties from GBIF and US Census boundaries.

Western water shrew records in Wyoming center on Sheridan County, which holds 36 of the state’s 49. That’s the east slope of the Bighorn Mountains, and the Cloud Peak Wilderness in the same range is the named place with the most. The range’s cold, clear mountain streams are what this semi-aquatic insectivore needs for hunting underwater. Just 4 of the records are iNaturalist photographs and 47 come through GBIF, typical for a shrew that spends most of its time submerged or hidden along the bank.

Reports peak in August, tracking summer stream access and survey timing more than a true single-month activity surge. NatureServe ranks the species S4, Apparently Secure, in Wyoming.

Occurrence data from iNaturalist and GBIF.

Western water shrew at the grassy edge of a stream
Full species profile Western Water Shrew Sorex navigator Size 13–17 cm5.1–6.7 in Weight 13 g0.5 oz Lifespan Up to 1.5 yr View the full profile

More mammals in Wyoming 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"