http://worldcat.org/entity/work/id/102967966

Filling the distribution gaps for small mammals in Montana

The Montana State Office of the BLM has designated 12 small mammal taxa (not counting four furbearers) as Sensitive Species. These include eight species or subspecies of bats, three rodents, and one rabbit. The distribution and status of small mammals throughout Montana remain poorly documented for most species. Because of this, management activities could have unintended consequences on habitats of small mammals undocumented in the impacted area. Surveys were conducted across the state in 2006 to address this need. Surveys for bats and small terrestrial mammals (rodents and shrews) at several locations in southwestern, central, and southeastern Montana and surveys for Pygmy Rabbit (Brachylagus idahoensis) in southwestern Montana during late winter 2007, focusing on determining the northern extent of their range and the connectivity with populations farther south in Beaverhead County were done. Eight species of bats were detected: Big Brown Bat (Eptesicus fuscus), Hoary Bat (Lasiurus cinereus), Silver-haired Bat (Lasionycteris noctivagans), Western Small-footed Myotis (Myotis ciliolabrum), Western Long-eared Myotis (M. evotis), Little Brown Myotis (M. lucifugus), Fringed Myotis (M. thysanodes), and Long-legged Myotis (M. volans). Six species of terrestrial small mammals (all rodents) were captured during our surveys: Ord's Kangaroo Rat (Dipodomys ordii), Sagebrush Vole (Lemmiscus curtatus), Olive-backed Pocket Mouse (Perognathus parvus), Deer Mouse (Peromyscusmaniculatus), Western Harvest Mouse (Reithrodontomys megalotis), and Northern Pocket Gopher (Thomomys talpoides). Late-winter 2007 surveys documented the continued presence of Pygmy Rabbits in the Big Hole Valley, and at a new site near Wisdom (also in the Big Hole Valley), as well as a new site in Grasshopper Valley to the southeast of the Big Hole.

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