I have often seen my cat dragging these odd looking little mice with their cartoon like little noses. Often mistaken as mice these are actually no relation to the mouse nor are they rodents. Belonging to the hedgehog/mole family and not too distantly related to the bat they are one of the world’s smallest mammals.
They are territorial mammals found in Ireland & Europe. Their territory can extend to 1500 meters squared with around 30 to 40 shrews in the zone. Here they scurry around in the under growth trying to avoid being eaten by just about every carnivore, or stood on by a wondering cow or sheep.
Having a very small pair of eyes they have poor eyesight but this is made up for by a strong sense of smell and sensitive touch. Prey is mainly insects, woodlice, earwigs, and small worms’ in-fact what ever they can subdue. They emit small squeaks which cannot be heard by adult humans but can be heard by children. These squeaks are a form of echo location not as sensitive as bats but warns of large objects like boulders or tree stumps.
You may have heard the expression live fast die young; this is exactly how shrews live, the rock ‘n roll life style of the animal world. They have super fast metabolism and as their bodies cannot store fat they must consume their bodyweight plus a quarter in food (120%) everyday. Needing very little sleep they zoom around for 13 months eating making more shrews and then die.
