Common Shrew

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 I have been trying to get a photograph of a common shrew for ages. I think they move too fast for my trail cams which don't trigger quickly enough. We see shrews dashing  across a path from the cover of a dry stone wall to long grass but they simply don't stay still. It is apparently possible to detect the squeaks they make with a bat detector but I have failed with that too. The best I can do is this photograph of a dead animal found in the road on todays dog walk.


There are three species of shrew that we are likely to come across around here. This one is the common shrew, but there is a water shrew (much darker) and a pigmy shrew (different colouration and a shorter tail). Shrews are very common mammals in Britain. Shrews are very active and have to eat every 2 to 3 hrs to stay alive. Shrews do not hibernate but can actually shrink in winter to survive (even their skull shrinks!). Shrews rarely live  longer than 12 months and the females can have 3 or 4 litters of between 5 and 7 young a year! Shrews mostly eat insects and earthworms and are themselves an important part of the diet of tawny owls.

Diary
Rain overnight and down to about 12C.  I saw a young redstart this morning and we are visited several times a day by the great spotted woodpecker.


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