The southern short-tailed shrew is the smallest in its genus, with members of the species having as few as 36 chromosomes, while their larger relatives, the giant mole shrews, have between 48 and 50. Food: Insects, small vertebrates, seeds and shoots. Giant mole shrews have stout bodies with long, pointed snouts covered in sensitive whiskers. Breeding: Several litters produced in summer. This shrews are often mistaken for smoky shrews, but long-tailed shrews tend to be more slender and have a longer tail. Close. A long-tailed shrew must eat twice its body weight in food every day to stay alive. The rain water trickles though the soil, flooding lower levels, and this forces insects and worms that are living underground up to the surface, where the shrews are ready and waiting. Young shrews are born blind and helpless, and are cared for in a nest of grass and other dry vegetation under a log, stump or underground. Shrews are almost completely blind, so the babies cling to their mothers tail in a conga line. The glands are especially well developed in the males during the breeding season, when they are trying to intimidate their rivals and impress females. Its fur is almost a completely uniform grey, which becomes slightly paler in summer. They make their nests underground or under dense vegetation. It is dark brown above, grey or silver below, and has chestnut-coloured sides. Although its external appearance is generally that of a long-nosed mouse, a shrew is not a rodent, as mice are. Shrews have 2 to 10 blind, hairless young in one or more annual litters; gestation lasts up to 28 days. It makes its dens in cool rock crevices and under boulders and scree. It prefers to live in damp habitats with well-drained soil for burrowing. The mother is attentive and occasionally relocates, carrying the young by the neck or pushing … The long-tailed shrew is especially abundant in mountain forests, on ranges such as the Appalachians and Adirondacks. The common shrew has tiny eyes, very small ears and a pointy face with a long nose. Until their senses are fully developed, they could easily get lost. The armored shrew has a spine which is fortified and strengthened. Size: Body: 4 3/4 - 6 in (12 - 15 cm); Tail: 2 3/4 - 3 3/4 in (7 - 9.5 cm). Shrews emit clicks, twitters, chirps, squeaks, churls, whistles, barks, and ultrasonic sounds in contexts of alarm, defense, aggression, courtship, interactions between mother and young, and exploration and foraging. It inhabits forests and grasslands, and has adapted to life in the huge wheat and corn fields that cover its range. Size: 6 - 7.5 cm (2.5 - 3 in); 5.5 - 11.5 g (0.01 - 0.025 lb). This species ranges from southern Illinois to Florida. They find worms, grubs and other invertebrate prey by rooting through loose soil and leaf litter with their pointed snout. Giant mole shrews live in most land habitats within their range, but they are hard to spot. There are about 385 species of shrews.. By doing so, they boost their intake of vitamins В and К and some other nutrients. Their diet comprises mainly grubs, maggots and spiders, but they also eat worms, snails, slugs and plant matter. Even when active, they are often hidden away in tunnels and runways among leaf litter and grass. Breeding: Litters of 5 - 7 young born throughout the summer. Although members of this species are consistently large, they are not by any means the largest of the shrews. It occurs in a variety of habitats, including tundra in the far north, prairies in drier parts of the range and also mountain forests. It does not hibernate and generally survives for no more than a year. This whisker of baby shrews was seen following their mother very closely around a building in Fuzhou City, China. Inhabiting alpine grasslands up to an altitude of 3,400m (11,333 ft) above sea level, alpine shrews are often found in rocky habitats. Shrew Facts. It's hard enough for the mum to keep an eye on her babies when they are all in one place – imagine how difficult it would be outside the burrow! They rest in nests of grass and leaves made inside their tunnels or in nooks and crannies on the surface. Masked shrews occupy a range of habitats, wherever there is adequate ground cover. They get their "giant" moniker from the fact that they are the last surviving member of the Megasorex genus, which once contained truly giant shrews. Size: 8 - 9 cm (3.25 - 3.5 in); 10 - 12 g (0.3 - 0.4 oz). Size: 9.5 - 12.5 cm (3.75 - 5 in); 2.2 - 4.3g (0.1 oz). The shrews also supplement their diet with berries. It lives in mountain forests up to 3,100 m (10,000 ft) above sea level, and spends its time underground, burrowing among the roots of plants, searching for insects and earthworms that form its diet. Among American mammals, only the pygmy shrew is smaller than this species. This habit may be related to the shrews’ hyperactive life and enhanced metabolism. Many people aren't clear about the difference between poison and venom. In the mating season, which takes place between spring and autumn, they expand their territories so that they overlap with those of the opposite sex. Shrews are extremely territorial and will aggressively defend their home ranges from other shrews. It is a semifossorial, highly active, and voracious insectivore and is present in a variety of habitats like broadleaved and pine forests among shrubs and hedges as well as grassy river banks. Long-tailed shrews forage for food both day and night. While this varies among species, a shrew’s heart rate beats 800 to 1000 times per minute. They are most likely to be seen just after rainfall. Their hearts may beat more than 1,200 times every minute and, relative to their body size, they have enormous appetites. The largest species is the Asian house shrew (Suncus murinus) of tropical Asia, which is about 15 cm (6 in) long and weighs around 100 g (4 oz) several are very small, notably the Etruscan shrew (Suncus etruscus), which at about 3.5 cm (1.4 in) and 1.8 g (0.063 oz) is the smallest known living terrestrial mammal. This often leads them to wonder whether shrews are poisonous or venomous. Size: 4.6 - 10 cm (1.75 - 4 in); 4 - 6 g (0.1 - 0.2 oz). All shrews are tiny, most no larger than a mouse. However, the shrew never takes to the water. They are believed to breed throughout the year.
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