Small Mammal Inventory of a Remediated Portion of Silver Bow Creek, Montana

Abstract

Silver Bow Creek in southwestern Montana has been heavily impacted by past mining and smelting activities resulting in a floodplain largely devoid of vegetation and wildlife. Much of the creek has been remediated by removal of mine tailings, reconstruction of the stream channel, and floodplain re-vegetation. We gathered data on small terrestrial mammals and bat species following remediation of a portion of the creek. Small mammals were live trapped and bats were monitored using ultrasonic detectors. We determined the presence of four species of small mammals (rodents and insectivores) and four species of bats utilizing this remediated portion of Silver Bow Creek. Both capture rates of small mammals and bat activity were low compared to other studies in this part of Montana.