There has been very little effort in recent memory to improve our understanding of the status of small mammals in south carolina despite 13 species being listed in the swap (2015)

The Department of the Interior's Fish and Wildlife Service Region 4 awarded a $157,499.00 Formula Grant to the Natural Resources South Carolina Department under the State Wildlife Grants (CFDA 15.634) program. The grant will fund a 3-year project to improve understanding of the status of small mammal species in South Carolina, particularly in the Appalachian oak forest habitat. The project will utilize the Adapted-Hunt Drift Fence (AHDRIFT) technique to survey for and detect up to 6 small mammal species listed in the State Wildlife Action Plan, including the Carolina red-backed vole, woodland jumping mouse, eastern woodrat, masked shrew, pygmy shrew (southern), and eastern spotted skunk. This effort aims to address the lack of recent data on small mammal populations in the state despite their conservation importance.

This is largely due to the difficulty in monitoring for these animals. The adapted-hunt drift fence technique (ahdrift) system has been shown to be effective at sampling small mammals without the upkeep and mortality risk of traditional drift fences. The appalachian OAK forest is home to 10 of the 13 swap listed small mammal species. By sampling exclusively in high elevation forested environments, we feel confident that we can survey for and detect with the ahdrift system the following species: carolina red-backed vole, woodland jumping mouse, eastern woodrat, masked shrew, pygmy shrew southern), and eastern spotted skunk.