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Masked shrew - SOREX CINEREUS
Class: Animals with Milk Glands (Mammalia)
The Name "Shrew": "Shrew" comes from the Middle English word "shrewe," for the animal.
Description: A very small, mouselike insectivore with sharply pointed muzzle, the masked shrew has minute eyes and a long tail. It has velvety fur of gray-brown color, pale gray beneath. Length of head and body is 1.8 to 2.5", and weight is 0.08 to 0.25 Oz.
Location: Throughout most of northern North America south of the Arctic, and north-eastern Siberia.
Habitat: Virtually all moist areas and dry forest floors.
Behavior: This long-tailed form is the most widespread of 30 species of shrews in North America. Active both day and night, mostly after dusk and at dawn, the masked shrew forages in the forest litter and even under winter snow since it does not hibernate. Its diet consists of insects and other small invertebrates such as worms, sowbugs, and snails, and it will also eat salamanders, young mice, nestling birds, and some vegetable matter. This particularly voracious shrew consumes its own body weight or more daily and has a fast metabolism - 800 heartbeats per minute. Generally solitary, it will fight viciously and often kill another of its own species. Total life span is eighteen months to two years.
Reproduction: Breeding is April to October. After gestation of about 18 days, one or two litters of 2 to 10 young, are born. The young are weaned at about 20 days.
Go to the Insectivores Page to get a general discussion of these animals.
Go to the Shrew Index to study other types of shrews.
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