There may be small-established populations of opossum in northeast South Dakota. This Mammals interesting mammal would most likely be By Dennis Skadsen encountered along the wooded shores of Big Stone Lake, Lake Traverse, and forested A total of sixty-three species of mammals coulees located along the eastern slope of have been reported from the four counties the Coteau in western Roberts County. covered by this publication based on Most observations reported to the author literature and museum records dating from were of road-killed individuals. The range the 1800s to the present. This number of this species has been expanding includes; two introduced species (house northward during the last sixty years. mouse and Norway rat), five mammals Historically, Over (1941) reported the whose occurrence in the area is considered opossum as uncommon in South Dakota accidental (mountain lion, lynx, fisher, with most observed in the extreme southeast wolverine, and moose), and forty-six native corner of the state. species still extant in the region based on recent surveys and reliable observations during the last thirty-six years from 1980 to Shrews 2016. Historical records exist for ten species; many of these mammals are now These secretive mainly nocturnal animals extirpated from northeast South Dakota due are hardly ever observed alive in the wild. to loss of habitat and other pressures exerted Most encounters are with dead specimens in post settlement. Five species may possibly mousetraps or carcasses dragged in by cats. occur based on generalized range maps and All species listed below are commonly unconfirmed sightings and are listed under found in northeast South Dakota except for the section entitled “hypothetical”. the Arctic and water shrew. The following list is compiled from the following sources; Higgins et al. (2000), Arctic Shrew (Sorex articus) observations by the author, local conservation officers, and other reliable Possibly extirpated. The only confirmed sources. Taxonomic order, common and records of the Arctic shrew in northeast scientific names follow Higgins et al. South Dakota are from two specimens (2000). collected by Dr. McChesney at Fort Sisseton in 1876 and 1877. Dr. McChesney was the Fort’s surgeon, who when not caring for Mammals Observed in Day, ailing soldiers, was charged with collecting Grant, Marshall, and Roberts bird and mammal specimens from around the Fort which is in present day Marshall Counties, South Dakota. County. The Arctic shrew was recently collected in McPherson County and further surveys may find this species in northeast Opossum South Dakota. Virginia Opossum (Didelphis virginiana) Mammals (11/2019) - 1 Water Shrew (Sorex palustris) Masked Shrew (Sorex cinereus) Hayden’s Shrew (Sorex haydeni) Up until 2016, the only know specimens of the water shrew were three collected by Dr. The masked and Hayden’s shrew are McChesney in 1876 and 1878 at Fort difficult to distinguish; recent research Sisseton. The author may have observed suggests the only definitive way to separate water shrews near Buffalo Lake in the late these two species is through DNA testing. 1960s. However, several surveys in the Hayden’s shrew reportedly favors grassland 1980s and 1990s failed to find either the habitats, though both species were collected Arctic or water shrew in northeast South from riparian areas along area lakes, Dakota. In 2014, the author found the wetlands, and streams in 1997 by the author. remains of a large shrew along a tributary north of Pickerel Lake, and in 2016 found a second large shrew (in much better Pygmy Shrew (Sorex hoyi) condition than the 2014 specimen) along Northern Short-Tailed Shrew (Blarina Pickerel Lake’s outlet creek. Both brevicauda) specimens were sent to Dr. Tim Mullican of Dakota Wesleyan University who confirmed The smallest (pygmy) and largest (short- that they are water shrews. tailed) shrews found in northeast South Dakota. Both species can be found in The severe droughts of the 1930s may have wooded riparian areas along water. caused the extirpation of this species from most of northeast South Dakota. However, considering the recent Pickerel Lake Bats specimens, small undetectable populations of the water shrew apparently held on around Pickerel Lake, which was one of only a handful of lakes that did not go totally dry during the 1930s. It is possible the onset of above normal precipitation allowed this population to grow to detectable levels or allow a remnant population that survived along one of the many spring fed creeks along the escarpment of the Prairie Coteau to expand. The water shrew’s required habitat, perennial streams in forested habitats and more rarely upland sites, is typical of the dozens of small streams that flow from the coulees located along the eastern slope of the Coteau in Marshall, Roberts and Grant Counties. Further surveys are now needed in northeast SD to determine the status of this species. Red Bat roosting in tree (photo by Doug Backlund) Mammals (11/2019) - 2 Little Brown Bat (Myotis lucifugus) populations increased in northeast South Silver-Haired Bat (Lasionycteris Dakota with the onset of the Conservation noctivagans) Reserve Program (CRP) that converted Big Brown Bat (Eptesicus fuscus) thousands of acres of cropland to grassland Eastern Red Bat (Lasiurus borealis) from 1986 through 2006. Many of these CRP contracts expired in 2007 and Little is known about the distribution of bats thousands of acres are being converted back in northeast South Dakota. Only four to cropland. The impact on grassland species have been confirmed for this area. species like the jackrabbit will no doubt be These include the Eastern red bat which has negative. been observed at Sica Hollow State Park and Fort Sisseton, and the silver-haired bat which was collected at the Waubay National Chipmunks, Marmots, and Squirrels Wildlife Refuge in 1952. During a 2001 statewide bat survey conducted by Swier (2001), a female little brown bat was collected at the Waubay National Wildlife Refuge, and echolocation calls of the big brown bat were detected at Fort Sisseton and Hartford Beach State Parks. Hares and Rabbits Eastern Chipmunk (photo by Dennis Skadsen) Eastern Chipmunk (Tamias striatus) The Eastern chipmunk only occurs in White-Tailed Jackrabbit (photo by Doug northeast South Dakota and can be found Backlund) along the wooded shores of Lake Traverse and Big Stone Lake in Roberts County, Pickerel Lake in Day County, and the larger Eastern Cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus) forested coulees located along the eastern White-Tailed Jackrabbit (Lepus slope of the Coteau in western Roberts and townsendii) Marshall Counties. It is uncertain why chipmunks are found at Pickerel Lake but Both species are common in northeast South absent from nearby Enemy Swim Lake and Dakota. The Eastern cottontail is found in the larger lakes located in Marshall County. both urban and rural areas, especially where Eastern chipmunk bones have been trees and shrubs occur. The white-tailed identified from archeological sites excavated jackrabbit prefers grassland. Jackrabbit Mammals (11/2019) - 3 on the Waubay National Wildlife Refuge suggesting the species may historically have had a wider distribution than today. Thirteen-lined Ground Squirrel (photo by Doug Backlund) Franklin’s Ground Squirrel (Spermophilus franklinii) Richardson’s Ground Squirrel (Spermophilus richardsonii) Thirteen-Lined Ground Squirrel (Spermophilus tridecemlineatus) All three species of ground squirrels are common in northeast South Dakota. Most are familiar with the thirteen-lined ground Woodchuck (photo by Dennis Skadsen) squirrel or stripped gopher found in both urban and rural areas. The Richardson’s ground squirrel or flicker-tail resembles a Woodchuck (Marmota monax) small prairie dog and will form large colonies especially on overgrazed pastures. Common along wooded shores of area lakes, The Franklin’s ground squirrel is the most larger wetlands, streams, and forested secretive of the three. This species inhabits coulees like Sica Hollow. Called tallgrass prairie. Thirteen-lined and groundhogs in eastern and southern states Richardson’s ground squirrels are where its emergence from hibernation in late considered pests by park and golf course winter. Folklore says the coming of spring managers and by farmers who often let can be predicted on whether the woodchuck “plinkers” shoot these animals for sport. casts a shadow or not. Mammals (11/2019) - 4 seen aboveground, their presence is known by the mounds of dirt pushed to the surface from excavated burrows. Considered an agricultural pest on pasture and hayland due to these mounds. Pocket Mice Plains Pocket Mouse (Perognathus flavescens) Red Squirrel (photo by Dennis Skadsen) Possibly extirpated. The only record for this species in northeast South Dakota is a Eastern Gray Squirrel (Scirus specimen collected near Lake Traverse in carolinensis) 1887. Life history accounts for the Plains Eastern Fox Squirrel (Scirus niger) pocket mouse denote the species may only Red Squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) occur in discrete isolated populations and has a narrow habitat requirement of well Of the three species of squirrels found in drained sandy soils with sparse vegetation. northeast South Dakota, the Eastern fox May inhabit the Crandall-Crocker Hills area squirrel is the most common. Populations of of western Day County and the Hecla Eastern gray and red squirrels exist in Sandhills of western Marshall County. northeast Grant County. The author has Listed by the