Short Tailed Shrew by Leeco

Photography • Animals • posted on Jun 02, 2013

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Description

While sitting on my back porch yesterday and enjoying a cool breeze that promised rain, I noticed something moving in a pile of leaves. At first I thought is was a field mouse but upon a closer look, I realized it was not. This is a common animal that is not seen very often - it is a Short-Tailed Shrew. It belongs to a Family of mammals that is named 'Soricidae'. There are about 30 species in North America and although they strongly resemble rodents, they are not. The worlds smallest mammal is a shrew that weighs less than 1/16 of an ounce and is native to the Mediterranean region and Africa. The largest species can be 7 1/2" long. This species is about 1 1/2" long and has five toes on all its feet whereas mice have only 4 toes on their front feet. The earliest mammals probably looked very similar to this. They are exceedingly active and nervous and dart about constantly. Because of their high metabolism, they feed every 3 hours both day and night. A shrews energy output exceeds that of any other mammal, compelling it to eat twice it's body weight every day. It eats mainly invertebrates but also plants, fungi, and small mammals, alive or dead. Most shrews live less than a year. I once had a cat who brought me several of these every week or so but they were always the worse for wear. I managed to catch this one all by myself and it was in fine shape. It was impossible to get a shot because it kept moving in and out of leaf piles so I caught it and put it on the hood of my truck. It seemed frozen in confusion for just a few moments before it made a dash for safety. I managed to get 2 shots - one of which was blurry. I managed to catch it before it had to jump off the hood and I put it back where I had found it. Thank goodness my cat was busy elsewhere. My thanks to those who have taken the time to comment on previous images. The feedback is appreciated. Lee