Shrew (Sorex araneus)
- There are plenty of shrews living on Cowbar in the grassland and the banks along the Cleveland Way. They are very tiny and very fast so although they have to feed every 2-3 hours and will be busy all day and all night, you will be lucky to see one.
- If you do spot a tiny scuttling creature around 5 – 8cm long with a 2-4 cm tail, tiny eyes and a long, pointed nose, it is probably a shrew.
- There are estimated to be more than 40 million shrews in the UK. They are not rodents, but more closely related to moles and hedgehogs.
- A shrew’s heart beats between 800 and 1,000 times per minute.
- Shrews need to eat 80 – 90% of their own bodyweight every day to survive. They eat mainly insects but will also eat slugs and snails and will tackle earthworms longer than they are.
- Shrews use their whiskers and long snouts to locate food. Their bite contains a venom which can paralyse their prey. The shrew can then move its victim to a hidden spot where it remains alive but unable to escape so the shrew has fresh food on hand for days.
- Shrew venom can’t harm larger creatures but centuries back, this venomous aspect led to the name ‘shrew’ being applied to an evil or quarrelsome person (and used as a nickname for the Devil).
- Chaucer made the first written reference to women as shews and Shakespeare consolidated this with his play, ‘The Taming of the Shrew’ and dozens of other references in his writing.
- Shrews do not hibernate, but they do become less active in winter. Their size actually shrinks in winter, so that they require less effort to move and so need less food. Not only does the liver shrink but also the brain and the skull.
- Shrews have a number of predators and are most commonly killed by tawny owls and barn owls, although weasels, foxes, stoats and kestrels will also eat them.
- They are territorial and very aggressive with each other for their size.
- Adults may only live for a year – long enough to have 2 or 3 litters of up to 6 young.
- Young shrews can occasionally be seen following their mother in a ‘caravan’. Each shrew grasps the base of the tail of the preceding shrew so that the mother runs along with a line of young trailing behind.
- All shrews (including the common shrew) are protected under Schedule 6 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981). Due to this protection, shrews may not be trapped without a licence and, when trapping for other small mammals, precautions are necessary to minimise the chances of death or damage to shrews.
