New records for the northern bog lemming in Washington

Publication Type:

Journal Article

Authors:

Wilson, Cynthia; Johnson, Richard E.; Reichel, James D.

Source:

Murrelet, Pacific Northwest Bird and Mammal Society, Volume 61, Issue 3, p.104-106 (1980)

Call Number:

A80WIL01IDUS

Keywords:

northern bog lemming, Synaptomys borealis

Abstract:

Northern bog lemmings (Synaptomys borealis) are distributed across boreal Canada and Alaska and each south to the northern borders of the contiguous 48 states in only a few places. In Washington all records come from within about 60 km of the Canadian border, either well west of the Cascade divide, or in the northeast corner of the state. The northeast records consist of three specimens taken from two locations in northern Pend Oreille Co. in 1952 and 1973. Specimens from the west are more numerous but much older. One was from an unspecified locality in or near Skagit Valley (Skagit County?) collected in 1859. The others (13 in all) were collected on the north slope of Mt. Baker, Whatcom County, by W. T. Shaw in 1923 through 1928. All came from wet meadow and bog situations. During the summers of 1979 and 1980 one of us discovered two new Washington localities for the species east of the Cascades and nearly equidistant between the earlier east and west sites.