While hawks, owls and small mammal predators take a limited number of moles as food, high water in areas containing their homes constitutes an important factor in controlling their abundance. The heavy rains and snow runoff in the park probably has much to do with the local mole population.
THE SHREWS
The smallest of our North American mammals, the shrew, is represented in the park by six different forms, all closely related and similar in general appearance.
The wandering shrew, Sorex vagrans vagrans Baird, is a small shrew with dark brown upperparts and ashy gray underparts. The tail tends to be bicolor with a dusky color above and paler below.
This species is found from southern British Columbia through western Washington and Oregon into northern California. Only two records have been obtained from the park. These came from a specimen trapped at Bear Prairie (2,000 feet) about three miles south of Longmire and from one taken in Stevens Canyon (no elevation given). The wandering shrew lives in areas where there is considerable moisture and a damp, heavy forest cover.
The Olympic dusky shrew, Sorex obscurus setosus Elliot, is a fairly large shrew with upperparts brown with a few light-tipped hairs, the lower parts ashy washed with buff. The tail is brown above and yellowish-white below.
This shrew is found from the Cascades westward and south as far as the Columbia River. In the park it has been recorded in a number of localities ranging from 2,000 to 6,800 feet in elevation. It is normally found in moist situations where the undergrowth is heavy and is one of our common shrews.
The cinereous shrew, Sorex cinereus cinereus Kerr, is of medium size and difficult to separate from the dusky and wandering shrews. It is distinguished by its small size and pale color.
This species “ranges over most of Alaska, Canada and the northern half of the United States” (Dalquest). Within the park it has been recorded only along the Paradise River, and data are lacking regarding its range.
The Trowbridge shrew, Sorex trowbridgii trowbridgii Baird, is a large shrew, about three-fourths the size of a common house mouse. In coloration it is black or grayish above, lighter below. The tail is sharply contrasting blackish above and whitish below.