The ten species of mammals listed below are not known certainly to occur
in Harding County, but there is a strong likelihood that some will be
found in the area or once occurred there. Three were mentioned by Visher
(1914) as having been seen or taken in the county at the time of, or
prior to, his biological survey of 1910 and 1912, but his accounts were
not supported by adequate documentation. In addition to the kinds
listed, several other mammals, such as Keen's bat (_Myotis keenii
septentrionalis_), the red bat (_Lasiurus borealis borealis_), or the
least weasel (_Mustela nivalis campestris_) are known to occur near
enough to the area that the possibility of their presence cannot be
discounted.
~Sorex cinereus haydeni~ Baird, 1858.--No shrews presently are known from
Harding County. This species almost certainly will be found in
relatively mesic habitats there, however, as our field parties have
taken specimens in adjacent Bowman County, North Dakota, and only a few
miles to the west of the county in the Long Pines Hills of Montana.
~Sorex merriami merriami~ Dobson, 1890.--This shrew inhabits somewhat more
xeric areas than most other members of the genus and surely occurs in
northwestern South Dakota. Specimens are on record from western North
Dakota and northwestern Nebraska, and in the summer of 1970 a field
party from The University of Kansas took one but a half mile west of the
Harding County (state) line in Carter County, Montana.
~Spermophilus richardsonii richardsonii~ (Sabine, 1822).--Visher (1914:88)
reported that he saw individuals of this species "in the extreme
northwestern corner" of Harding County. However, the limits of the
presently known range of the species are approximately 150 miles distant
from that area.
~Sciurus niger rufiventer~ E. Geoffroy St.-Hilaire, 1803.--The fox
squirrel presently is unrecorded from much of the West River part of
South Dakota. Hoffmann _et al._ (1969:589), however, recently have
reported specimens from along the Yellowstone River in eastern Montana
and this squirrel now may occur also along the Little Missouri River. It
was not surprising, therefore, when residents of Camp Crook reported to
us that in recent years they have seen what were believed to be fox
squirrels along the Little Missouri near that town. Specimens now are
needed to verify these reports.
~Lagurus curtatus pallidus~ (Merriam, 1888).--The sagebrush vole
undoubtedly occurs, albeit probably uncommonly, in areas of sage in
northwestern Harding County, because specimens have been taken recently
a few miles north and west of the county in North Dakota and Montana,
respectively. We trapped unsuccessfully (900 trap nights) for this vole
on sage flats to the north of Camp Crook and west of the Little Missouri
River in the summer of 1970. "Sign," which appeared to be that of
_Lagurus_, was found in this area, but only _Peromyscus maniculatus_ and
_Spermophilus tridecemlineatus_ were trapped there.
~Rattus norvegicus~ (Berkenhout, 1769).--No records of this introduced
murid are available from northwestern South Dakota, but it seems likely
that the species has reached the area.
~Vulpes velox~ (Say, 1823).--Visher (1914:90) reported seeing a swift fox
"along the Little Missouri Valley in North Dakota" and further noted
that an early settler [Sol Catron] had "trapped a few" in Harding
County. Whatever the former status of this fox in northwestern South
Dakota may have been, the species evidently does not occur in the area
today, or is rare, and the subspecific status of _V. velox_ throughout
much of the Northern Great Plains is in question. A specimen obtained
in February of 1970 at a place 9 mi. N and 2 mi. E Scranton, Slope Co.,
North Dakota, is the only swift fox taken north of Nebraska in recent
years (Pfeifer and Hibbard, 1970:835).
~Urocyon cinereoargenteus ocythous~ Bangs, 1899.--Jones and Henderson
(1963:288) reported a gray fox from Deer Ear Buttes, Butte Co., South
Dakota, approximately 15 miles south of the Harding County line. This
species appears to have dispersed westward in recent years, and its
future occurrence in the county is likely.
~Gulo gulo luscus~ (Linnaeus, 1758).--The wolverine probably occurred
sparingly in northwestern South Dakota until the time of early
settlement, but we know of no verified records from Harding County or
surrounding areas. A recent report of a specimen taken south of Timber
Lake, Dewey Co., South Dakota (Jones, 1964:283), indicates that it may
again be found in the area.
~Lynx canadensis canadensis~ Kerr, 1792.--We have no reports of this
species in Harding County save that Visher (1914:90) noted that local
residents claimed specimens had "been taken recently in the Cave Hills."
Hoffmann and Pattie (1968:53) reported that the lynx occurs presently in
eastern Montana and we suspect that individuals may occasionally range
into Harding County.