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Each shrew establishes a home range of 370 to 630 m 2 (440 to 750 yd²). Males often extend the boundaries during the breeding season to find females. Shrews are extremely territorial and will aggressively defend their home ranges from other shrews. They make their nests underground or under dense vegetation. [6]
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 American water shrew or northern water shrew (Sorex palustris) is a shrew found in the nearctic faunal region located throughout the mountain ranges of the northern United States and in Canada and Alaska. [3] The organism resides in semi-aquatic habitats, [4] and is known for being the smallest mammalian diver. [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]
Like all shrews, the Asian house shrew is plantigrade and long-nosed. The teeth are a series of sharp points to poke holes in insect exoskeletons. It is the largest of the shrew species, weighing between 50 and 100 g and being about 15 cm long from snout to tip of the tail. [8]
The Pacific shrew (Sorex pacificus) is a species of mammal in the family Soricidae.It is endemic to western Oregon in the United States. [1] The Pacific Shrew is native to western Oregon, more specifically from the Siltcoos lake to the coast going from the border line of Douglas and Lane counties continuing south to the northern parts of California.
The shrew, however, avoids intensively cultivated areas, as well as dense forests and sand dunes. [2] It is poorly adapted to digging burrows, so it arranges its nests in various natural shelters, crevices and others' uninhabited burrows. [5] [6] They frequent rocks, boulders, stone walls and ruins, darting quickly in and out between them. [8]
The Eurasian water shrew (Neomys fodiens), known in the United Kingdom as the water shrew, is a relatively large shrew, up to 10 cm (4 in) long, with a tail up to three-quarters as long again. It has short, dark fur, often with a few white tufts, a white belly, and a few stiff hairs around the feet and tail.