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Common shrew foraging (UK) The common shrew's carnivorous and insectivorous diet consists of insects, slugs, spiders, worms, amphibians and small rodents. Shrews need to consume 200% to 300% of their body weight in food each day in order to survive; to achieve this they must eat every 2 to 3 hours, and they will starve if they go without food ...
The cinereus shrew or masked shrew (Sorex cinereus) is a small shrew found in Alaska, Canada, and the northern United States. [2] This is the most widely distributed shrew in North America, where it is also known as the common shrew .
The genus Sorex includes many of the common shrews of Eurasia and North America, and contains at least 142 known species and subspecies.Members of this genus, known as long-tailed shrews, are the only members of the tribe Soricini of the subfamily Soricinae (red-toothed shrews).
The American pygmy shrew is the smallest mammal native to North America and is one of the smallest mammals in the world, just slightly larger than the Etruscan shrew of Eurasia. Its body is about 5 cm (2 in) long including a 2-cm-long tail, and it weighs about 2.0 to 4.5 g (0.07 to 0.16 oz). [9]
All shrews are tiny, most no larger than a mouse. 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 (3 + 1 ⁄ 2 oz) [2] The Etruscan shrew (Suncus etruscus), at about 3.5 cm (1 + 3 ⁄ 8 in) and 1.8 grams (28 grains), is the smallest known living terrestrial mammal.
The short-tailed shrew has a high metabolism and eats about half its body weight in a day. It navigates and locates prey by echolocation. [7] The southern short-tailed shrew is a social animal; it has been known to share its burrow systems with several individuals. The male and female live together during the prebreeding season. The burrows are ...
In older long-tailed shrews, a loss of hair from the tail may be exhibited. The long-tailed shrew has a long, slender muzzle with long whiskers that range from 22 to 23 mm (0.87 to 0.91 in) long. [3] In the summer, the pelage color of the long-tailed shrew is slate gray with the ventral side of the body lighter than the dorsum. [4] [5]
The northern short-tailed shrew (Blarina brevicauda) is the largest shrew in the genus Blarina, [3] and occurs in the northeastern region of North America. [4] 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. [5]