On Shrews

I was lucky enough to spot this shrew hunting in the leaf litter when I was at Cedar Bog a couple of weeks ago. Shrews have rather poor eyesight, so by moving slowly I was able to get down on my hands and knees on the boardwalk and follow its movements for nearly fifteen minutes. It took a good ten minutes just to get this shot, as it was in constant motion and usually obscured by leaves.

Although they superficially resemble rodents, shrews are insectivores and close relatives of moles. They are voracious predators, possessed of an incredibly high metabolism - some species can starve to death in as little as seven hours. They are constantly on the hunt and their primary prey consists of various invertebrates, including earthworms, centipedes, spiders and insects of all varieties. Some species produce a toxic venom, making them one of the very few venomous mammals in the world.

Judging by its size (two inches long, not including the inch long tail) and the range map in my mammal field guide, I believe the pictured animal is a least shrew, but positive identification is tricky. My guide says the least shrew has thirty teeth, which is of course useless as a field mark. I was quite content to have the pleasure of watching it for a while without taking it apart to identify it.