Shrews

• Most are shrews are nocturnal and not usually seen unless they find their way indoors
• Shrews are quite vocal and you can hear their high-pitched squeaks
• Northern short-tailed shrews prefer to tunnel below ground, through fallen leaves, or along frozen ground under snow cover.
• Shrew nests are up to 8” in diameter underground or underneath a log. Their nest is kept clean, with wastes deposited outside the nest. Other parts of the tunnel system are used for food storage.

• Shrews have long pointed noses, dense velvety fur, and black beady eyes.
• They have five toes on all feet. (Mice have only 4 toes on their front feet.)
• Shrews also have a revolting odor.

The most common shrews in Minnesota are:

The masked shrew (Sorex cinereus)

• One of the smallest common mammals in Minnesota
• Grey-brown in color with a light grey underside
• Tail is brown on top, pale underneath, and a dark tip
• The body is not quite 2” in length and a tail that is equal in length to the body
• The masked shrew weights approximately 0.15 ounce
• Its teeth are brown tipped

The short-tailed shrew (Blarina brevicauda)

• Approximately 5” in overall length
• A short tail that is about 1” in length
• Short tailed shrews weigh 0.53 to 1.06 oz
• Males are slightly larger than female
• Fur is thick and velvety, and can be black, brownish black, or silvery gray, with a lighter and grayer underside
• Short tailed shrews are venomous. (With the exception of an Insectivore found in Cuba and Hispaniola, the Short tailed shrew is the only venomous mammal in North America.)

• Yes. Do not attempt to pick it up a shrew as they will bite if improperly handled.
• A shrew bite is painful and can produce painful swelling for several days.
• Shrews can potentially transmit diseases and parasites, but there are no documented cases.
• Shrews are naturally very aggressive and will occasionally attack pets, birds, or chipmunks at feeders.

• Generally, shrews do not cause damage to property.
• Once inside the home they potentially may feed on stored food and can contaminate it with feces and urine.

• In order to maintain their body temperature, shrews must feed voraciously, night and day.
• Each day, shrews eat up to their body weight in earthworms, centipedes, snails and slugs, beetles and bugs, spiders, certain fungi and vegetable matter, and even small mammals.
• Shrews have tiny, but very sharp teeth which they can use to bite and tear flesh.
• Because of their very sharp teeth and aggressive nature, shrews are capable of will attacking and killing mice, voles, and other animals several times larger than themselves.

• Shrews breed from May through October
• Female short-tailed shrews give birth to at least two litters per year, each having from 4 – 10 young.
• Masked shrew Females have one litter of 6-7 young during the breeding season.
• The young shrews are suckled for up to 25 days before the babies are weaned.
• Baby shrews mature extremely quickly and are independent at one month old.
• Shrews can live two years, but most are born, live and die within one year.

• The Etruscan Shrew (Suncus etruscus ) which is about 1.5” in length and weighs 0.07oz is the smallest living terrestrial mammal.
• The Etruscan shrew’s heart beats 1,511 times a minute; faster even than a Blue-throated hummingbird’s (1,260).
• Shrews are easily startled and will jump, faint, or drop dead at a sudden noise.
• Shrew venom is not conducted into the wound by fangs, but by grooves in the teeth.
• Shrews have poorly developed eyesight, but have exceptional senses of smell and touch.
• Cats will kill shrews, but usually will not eat them because of the foul-tasting glands in the shrew’s skin which give the shrew an unpleasant smell.
• Shrews are aggressive and territorial. A new shrew will be killed within a few hours of being placed in a cage with an already established shrew. A pair of shrews simultaneously introduced into a cage will take less than 4 months before one kills the other.
• The word “shrew” comes from the Old English form of the word was screawa, or shrew-mouse. The Middle English form was shrewe, meaning an evil, ill-tempered, or scolding person (usually female); most familiar use is Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew.