DICKINSON, N.D. (AP) – For the second time in two years, a Dickinson State University research team has found a rare shrew inwestern North Dakota.
     The Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of National History confirmed the tiny critter found this summer was a
Merriam’s shrew.

The Smithsonian also confirmed the shrew found last year.
     Dickinson State associate professor Michael Shaughnessysays  the shrew is notendangered and has a wide range in the western U.S. But he says
it’s rare to find one in North Dakota.
     Until the discoveries in the past two years, the only other
Merriam’s shrew documented in North Dakota was caught near Medora
in 1913.
     The recent discoveries were made in an ongoing project involving
students who are surveying prairie dog towns.