Other parts of the tunnel system are used for food storage. Fur is thick and velvety, and can be black, brownish black, or silvery gray, with a lighter and grayer underside. Short tailed shrews are venomous. With the exception of an Insectivore found in Cuba and Hispaniola, the Short tailed shrew is the only venomous mammal in North America.
Shrews are naturally very aggressive and will occasionally attack pets, birds, or chipmunks at feeders. Each day, shrews eat up to their body weight in earthworms, centipedes, snails and slugs, beetles and bugs, spiders, certain fungi and vegetable matter, and even small mammals. Because of their very sharp teeth and aggressive nature, shrews are capable of will attacking and killing mice, voles, and other animals several times larger than themselves.
Female short-tailed shrews give birth to at least two litters per year, each having from 4 — 10 young. The Etruscan Shrew Suncus etruscus which is about 1.
I remember thinking that the following day would have to be my hunting day this mouse would be pardoned for this night at least I was not looking forward to sanitizing my dishwater, silverware, utensils ect.. Wiping everything down with disinfectant was a daunting, time consuming task that I was not looking forward to. I really had better things to do with my time.
On to the local hardware store to invest in some sort of contraption to catch these little critters that had so boldly taken up residence in my home. As much as I wanted them gone, I had no desire to kill them. I figured he was going to stand his ground, so I would have to do the same. The guy at the hardware store said that it sounded more like a shrew and not a mouse. He then went on to tell me that I should be happy to share my home with this little critter, as they eat bugs and are not interested in any of the food in my pantry, except for maybe the cat and dog food.
And as far as pooping on my silverware, had I actually identified any droppings? Needless to say, I was eager to learn about this little critter that was feasting nightly on bugs and spiders, keeping my little boys safe from the possible poisonous bites of some of the common spiders found in the Midwest, which is where I live.
To this day my 2 boys remember our shrew as more of a pet than a pest. My husband told me yesterday that we have a mouse, a very strange looking one. I laughed and told him to leave it alone and be grateful for him living in our old farmhouse, that chances are he the shrew would most likely keep our home mouse free for the winter. I wonder what his name is…. I suspect in this case, the young are simply called baby shrews. Loved your shrew d observations, but disagree with wanting more politicians like Theodore Roosevelt.
He was a merciless hunter of big game across the globe, and a war monger. As with so many public figures that we idolize without closer examination, he had some serious flaws as a humanitarian. Yes but could it be a snake or a mice that has took some peanuts that are not in the shell and put all of them in the living room in a perfect circle. I just found a short tail shrew With no ears in my pool, unfortunately I was a little to late finding him, roughing him up did no good.
And found out they are venomous, I had no clue. Thank you for taking the time to write this article! I missed my calling. But I study the flora and fauna found all over the world with a hungry intensity at the advanced age of nearly 63 now. It was on the bank of the crystal clear lake surrounding the island, hunting. It actually allowing me to pick it up and never bit me. It was just beautiful. Thank you Matthew,! What an informative and interesting read! My cat has a dead shrew on the porch about every other day!
Your info helped allay my fears that Jed was in danger. Enjoyed it- thanks for putting in the Teddy Roosevelt bit. Glad I found you. Great read! Thank you!! I was waiting for warmer weather to arrive and finally it is here! Our home is on a small — easy walk down to the sand — bluff. The bluff is filled with whatever grows during various seasons and we daily watch hunting birds of prey swoop down to nab a tasty treat.
We have an abundance of shrews, mice and other small fuzzy and non fuzzy critters. Our cats have been nighttime hunters. Last night a particularly large shrew who understandably was stressed out bit me as I tried to save his life which I did. This was super interesting, thank you!
I saw a Schrew for the first time yesterday, and became quite fascinated by it. I had no idea it was so viscous! I was filming it, and all the time it was sizing me up to eat me. A starling would be very, very large prey for a shrew. It is possible it was scurrying around starlings but probably not chasing them.
Could it be a weasel? Central Texas found 2 shrews that were no bigger than the 1st. Which is 1. Do you recognize this as any identified species. They were both dark grey and one of them I watched run across a mud puddle that was feet wide. It was very fast and the only reason I managed to observe it was because it was on an oilfield pad.
It was at night and I followed it with my light for approximately feet. I would love to have more info. Shrew ID is tricky under the best of circumstances. Many species can only be reliably identified by examining their skulls and dentition. Unfortunately, I am not sure what species you are seeing in Texas. It does sound very tiny indeed! I was searching for the answer… Why shrew is weaker than mouse? They can survive without food for few hours, whereas mouse can survive for days. Thank you so much for such a great, informative article!
I live in Northumberland, UK, and have recently built a tiny wildlife pond. I was just sitting quietly by it, when all of a sudden, two shrews shot out from underneath one of the rocks, it looked as if they were chasing each other. One fell into the pond, swam a couple of laps, then dived out and back under the rock!
I was wondering if this is usual? I love this article. Have you got anything to say about shrew family behaviour? I walked onto my back deck in New Jersey early on a September morning, when it was still fully dark. I put the deck lights on. I soon observed a small creature jumping around in the cut lawn surrounding the deck.
At first I thought it was a small frog. It repeatedly moved in wide for it circles, very rapidly. After making such circles in the turf, it hid out a bit, taking a break.
At that point I soon was able to see it, identifying it as a very tiny mouse-like creature, i. I concluded that both behaviors were designed to flush insect-prey out. But there was no success in this that I could identify. It often appears from behind the cooked and seems is becoming quite confident even when there are people around. Hi, many years ago I got bitten on the side of the right foot by a shrew, and the area became itchy for years after that, and so decided to try acupuncture on it.
Therapist put needles around the area and thankfully made the itch go away. However in the last three months the itch has come again, any scratching on area does not resolve it. Now that shrew bit me about 20 years ago! A great and wonderful piece. I would be hard pressed to describe what I liked about it most, whether it was the exposure of a magical and magnificent example of the genius that is Nature, contained in something so ordinary and commonplace as the shrew, or the idea of your final paper.
Which brings me to my question-when do I get to read it? Thank you for your comment, Paul. I am glad you enjoyed the story. As far as my paper, I am afraid it has been lost to time.
There are several papers and notebooks from that era of my life I now wish I had…. Nice Post. My son just sent me a picture in a text message of a couple rodents his cat deposited on his doorstep.
At first I took them to be voles but on closer inspection the sharp noses spoke loudly shrew. So, I told him to give his cat a good looking over for festering swelling bites. Right away he mentioned that the cat did seem to have some issues and as a PA decided to give the cat a good look over. Next day he sent me a picture of lacerations that look like they came from a surgical scissors.
That was after he thoroughly cleaned out the wounds. Yep classic shrew bit. He also reported the wounds to have a pretty fowel odor about them. Hi Matt, This is an interesting read. A mammal with venom! I also encountered The Taming of the Shrew in college class and enjoyed it immensely and would like to know how you compared Kate to the little critter.
I hope I am not the only commenter. Best regards. My house somehow got infested with these lil…… And the smell is horrid. As soon as you open the door to my home the stentch hits ya and takes your breath away. What can i do to get the smell out. I have to wash my clothes 3 times in order to get clean smelling. Hi Matthew, We live in Kansas.
Last week my husband and I were watching a scary movie. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of a black oval object go under the other couch. I shrugged it off to imagination. The next night I saw it, the high rate of speed and it was jet black led me to believe this is not a mouse. So before bed I set a cracker in front of the couch we saw it run under.
The next morning it was gone. How do I get rid of it? Habitat: Bogs, edges of streams, ponds and lakes in northern and mountainous areas. Habits: Swims, dives, and can run on the surface of water.
Grey or greyish-brown above, paler below. Habitat: Wet and dry woods and adjacent grass clearings. They are also common in cultivated fields, in flower and vegetable gardens, fence rows, and beside country roads.
They need enough plants to provide cover. In the winter, they often retreat into barns, cellars, and sheds. Little information is available regarding the mating systems of northern short-tailed shrews. Northern short-tailed shrews build elaborate mating nests out of shredded grass or leaves. The nests are to mm long by approximately mm wide and are placed in tunnels or under logs and rocks. The breeding season extends from early spring to early fall March-September , although some scattered reproductive activity may occur throughout the entire year.
Females usually have 2 litters in a year, although they sometimes have 3. Pregnancy lasts 21 to 22 days. Although 3 to 10 shrew pups may be born in a littler, between 5 and 7 young is most common. Young short-tailed shrews leave the nest at 18 to 20 days of age and are weaned several days later.
Females reach adulthood at 6 weeks of age, while males become adults at 12 weeks. Females care for their young in the nest for 18 to 20 days. After weaning, at 25 days old, young northern short-tailed shrews leave the nest and all parental care ends. Northern short-tailed shrews can live as long as 3 years, but most probably die in their first year or before they reach adulthood. Northern short-tailed shrews are active year round, both day and night although they are more nocturnal than diurnal.
Of all the American shrews, northern short-tailed shrews are the best at burrowing. They are very good at tunneling through leaves, plant debris, and snow with their strong paws and tough snouts.
They construct elaborate runways and nests but have also been known to use the tunnels of mice and moles. Although most of their time is spent on or under the ground, short-tailed shrews are also effective climbers and have been observed climbing nearly 2 meters up a tree trunk to obtain suet from a bird feeder. Northern short-tailed shrews are not sociable or gregarious mammals. In captivity, short-tailed shrews have been observed to live together peacefully if enough space is provided, but in the wild, short-tailed shrews are solitary and territorial.
Territory size and stability are determined by how much prey is available in the area. Home ranges of northern short-tailed shrews can be twice the size of those of other shrews. Their home range is on average 2. Although they are solitary and territorial in the wild, home ranges tend to overlap. Northern short-tailed shrews, especially males, release a musky odor from scent glands on their belly and sides.