Abstract
Report submitted to Doug Ransome, Wildlife Management Instructor, and Ross Vennesland, Species at Risk Recovery Biologist, BC Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection, Regional Headquarters, Surrey, BC. Report submitted by Nick Dykshoorn, Kenji Miyazaki and Dave Driediger. The Pacific water shrew (Sorex bendirii) is red listed by British Columbia provincial government and considered threatened by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. The Pacific water shrew (PWS) is considered rare throughout its range and is very difficult to capture. Past studies have positively identified only nine specimens within BC. Habitat loss, limited distribution, and specialized habitat requirements continue to threaten British Columbia's PWS population. The objective of this study was to determine if the presence of PWS can be efficiently detected through identification of aquatic invertebrate parts and exoskeletons found within collected scats. Further intentions were to (1) assess the feasibility of using bait tubes as a method of determining the presence of PWS and; (2) to determine whether PWS are present in BC's Fraser Valley. May 2004.