Which is it? Common, Pygmy or Water?… my guide to Shrews!
I have had a lot of activity in my Mammal Box, which is positioned next to my garage in a damp and overgrown bank. Wood mice and Bank voles have always visited, with the occasional shrew as well. Since I placed the HD box there, with its high definition camera, I have been able to take a closer look at some of the visitors. It was soon clear that I had the three species of shrew, found in Britain, visiting. It is difficult to gauge size in this box as they all look quite large, but as I played back footage and took stills, I started to realise that they all look very different.
Shrews, although they look like long-nosed mice, are in fact more closely related to moles and are not rodents at all. They belong to the family Soricidae of the order Insectivora. Rodents have teeth that continually grow. Shrews teeth wear down, but they have iron within the enamel of their teeth (which make them look red), to slow this process down, making them much harder. Anyone who has found shrew skulls within owl pellets will know that this coloration is very clear and children often think it is blood on the teeth!
Shrews have a very high metabolic rate and seem to be on ‘fast forward’ all the time! They have an insatiable appetite for insects and worm and can devour their own body weight in a day. In fact, they can die within half a day if deprived of food. The shrews visiting me are eating a range of seeds and dried mealworms. I will be offering some fresh mealworms too. The Water shrew, in particular, is known for its venom, would you believe? Shrews deliver this poison to their pretty via grooves in their teeth. The poison is there to paralyse their prey and not as a form of defence.
So, how can we tell these species apart? The Water shrew is pretty obviously different…. but the Common and Pygmy look similar at first, but on closer examination, it is pretty easy to see the differences.
Common Shrew
Pygmy Shrew
Water Shrew
I have learnt SO much in the last few days, finding out more about these fascinating mammals. I hope this guide helps. I am looking forward to watching these creatures more over the next few months and sharing my footage with you.
Information from:
– Mammal Society
– The Life of the Shrew By Peter Crowcroft
Great ‘footage’ of these truly remarkable creatures.
Very interesting Kate, brilliant picture and thanks for sharing. John.
One thing is for sure, you have to be very shrewd when it comes to identify these small mammals. No more tame comments from me then. Keep up the good work Kate.
:o))
Hi Kate – thanks for the interesting article; I had always thought that shrews were rodents ! We’ve had one living with us for a few weeks now. I caught it in a humane mousetrap and released it outside. Minutes later it was back in the lounge ! Do they often come inside to shelter or is this relatively unusual behaviour ? It must be coming and going as there is no food for it in the house…
I have not heard of them coming inside in that way, no! Fascinating little creatures though!
Wonderful photos Kate, i could not get on here this morning server went off its great to see your blog i look forward to reading it.
Many cat is very naughty she always kills shrew and mice and brings them home, sometime she don’t kill them and there running around my house alive.last year she brought a mouse home it lived in my tumble dryer till it chewed the circuit board and broke the tumble dryer. Is there any way I can stop my cat from doing this.
Sadly, it is almost impossible to control what your cat does outside. A bowl of dried food that is always available may take the edge off of her hunger, meaning she is less inclined to hunt….
Hi Kate. Thank you for your amazing footage! I am looking to do some camera trapping myself on Lundy Island this Summer with the aim of collecting some pygmy shrew footage but from what I’ve read it can be quite difficult filming small mammals, especially when they are as small as the three shrews. If you don’t mind me asking what camera trap did you use? Was the camera continuously recording or was it triggered (Infrared, heat or motion)?
Hi. This set up is in a box feeding station with a wired camera that records constantly. There are lights inside the box. I have captured some pretty unique footage of mammals that are usually extremely hard to film usually! All three species of shrew visit regularly.
Although this won’t necessarily please our Kate but I’ve heard wonderful shrew news from the Isle of Scilly. Having removed the rats from a couple of the Islands (there are many) not only are the seabirds bouncing back from the brink but the Scilly shrew population is exploding too. Wildlife conservation sure is complex and often controversial, i.e. when speaking of predator removal for instance, but where the science works out in the field, we mustn’t shirk our responsibilities, at least that is my opinion and the evidence is there for all to see, at least in Scilly.
As always, it is a matter of balance! Too often the balance is shifted… often caused by our interference… this is when imbalance happens and species suffer. I have no issue with maintaining the balance and, although I have become quite fond of my rat population, if there was an explosion here, then the other wildlife would also suffer so I have to hope the local cats and foxes keep my population down! It is great news that the shrew and seabirds populations are recovering on Scilly.
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Here’s an odd question for you. Can shrews be bi-coloured. Saw a shrew (I think) on kinder scout and it was black from nose to shoulder and pale/white from shoulder to rump.
I have not heard of anything like that!!