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| Unlike mice, Shrews are insectivores (eaters of insects, slugs, and snails) and their front teeth are almost horizontal, hooked at the tip, and dull. Shrews are also much smaller than mice. The Pigmy Shrew is almost the smallest mammal in the world, weighing only three or four grams. The common Deer Mouse is 5 times larger. Shrews are active 24 hours a day with only short rest periods, during which they consume up to three times more than their own weight per day. All Shrews are active throughout the winter, continuing their ceaseless search for food under the snow. Using its sturdy snout as well as its powerful forefeet, this species excavates underground runways. Shrews usually breed in their second summer, producing 4 to 8 young, born from spring through fall, and produce two to four litters. Very few Shrews live through a second winter. As a defense mechanism, Shrews have scent glands along their sides that produce a musky odor, making them unappetizing to many carnivores. They are, however, commonly hunted by owls, which swallow their prey whole. The most common species in the Highlands, the Short-tailed Shrew, has very poisonous saliva that is used when hunting, to paralyze their prey. Their saliva is not dangerous to humans, but a bite may swell and be painful for several days. |
(Family Soricidae)
Common Shrew (Sorex cinereus)
Pigmy Shrew (Sorex hoyi)
Short-tailed Shrew (Blarina brevicauda)
Smoky Shrew (Sorex fumeus)
Water Shrew (Sorex palustris)
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