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Fourteen species of Chiroptera (bats) are suspected to occur in the <br />• region, but information on local abundance and distribution is often <br />sketchy at best. <br />One member of Didelphidae, the oppossum, has been reported in the Grand <br />Valley near Grand Junction. This species is not native to the area and <br />remains very uncommon. <br />Four species of shrews are present in the region, most commonly in <br />riparian or meadow areas. <br />Threatened and Endangered Mammals <br />No official critical habitat for mammals has been designated by the <br />U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service within the region under the Federal <br />Endangered Species Act of 1973. The black-footed ferret, a species <br />• currently listed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) on the <br />federal endangered list and also listed by the state of Colorado as <br />endangered, may occur in the region. Three unconfirmed sightings of the <br />ferret near Hotchkiss have been reported in recent years, but no confirmed <br />sightings or concrete evidence of ferret have been found in recent times. <br />The DOW has identified no occupied range for this species in the region <br />(DOW 1978). Nevertheless, the area was historic range for black-footed <br />ferrets, which are closely associated with prairie dogs, and there is <br />potential for ferrets to occur throughout the region where prairie dogs <br />occur. No prairie dogs exist on or adjacent to the WSC permit area. <br />The DOW also lists three additional species (river otter, wolverine, <br />and lynx) as endangered. Historic range for both lynx and wolverine <br />• <br />2.04-56 <br />