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Eurasian common shrew - SOREX ARANEUS
Class: Animals with Milk Glands (Mammalia)
The Name "Shrew": "Shrew" comes from the Middle English word "shrewe," for the animal.
Description: A mouse-sized creature with a tail of moderate length, the common shrew has a pointed muzzle, small eyes, and its ears are nearly concealed by fur, which is dense and brown or blackish on the back, gray beneath, and intermediate on the sides. Head and body length is just 2.5 to 3.2", and it weighs just 0.2-0.6 oz.
Location: Britain, Europe from Arctic to Mediterranean, east to the Pacific coast of Asia.
Habitat: Terrestrial. Forest and woodland, scrub, grassland, and tundra.
Behavior: This tiny, quick animal lives in the leaf litter where it has extensive runways. It also digs tunnels and uses those of other species. Its roughly spherical nest of woven grass is placed underground or under natural shelter on the surtace. Solitary and pugnacious (eager to fight), the common shrew is active day and night (mostly at night), feeding on invertebrates such as worms and beetles which it locates by touch with its sensitive whiskers. Common shrews have poor eyesight. After first biting and disabling its prey, the shrew stores morsels not immediately consumed. The complete life span is a little over one year.
Reproduction: Breeding season is May to October, with a female often becoming pregnant again upon the birth of a litter. They producing two, and possibly more litters per season. Average litter size is six, with a gestation of 13 to 19 days. The young are weaned at 19 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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