Common shrew

 (C) Tony Sutton (shared under a CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 license)

Scientific name: Sorex araneus

Family: Soricidae

Appearance: The Common shrew typically has a dark brown back and is greyish white underneath with a transition band of brownish fur in between. It has a long, pointed snout, small eyes and a relatively short tail which is about half as long as its body.

Size: Head and body 5.4–8.7 cm; tail 3.2–5.6 cm 

Natural history: The Common shrew inhabits thick vegetation in woodland and grassland and is also often found in gardens and along road verges. Shrews are active throughout the day and night with peaks at dawn and dusk and foraging activity is interspersed with bouts of resting. Shrews are carnivores and insectivores eating a range of invertebrates including earthworms, beetles, woodlice, slugs and snails. They need to eat almost their entire body weight to sustain their daily activities. Breeding occurs between April and September which is the only time that there is any social interaction between normally territorial individuals. Females give birth to 3 or 4 litters of 4-8 young during this time. Shrews are an important part of the diet of Barn and Tawny owls but are not palatable to all predators as they produce a foul tasting liquid from glands in the skin.