Cursed with an overactive metabolism, the shrew's obsession for food dominates its life
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| The common shrew only grows up to 8cm (3in) long
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'The smallest British species – the pygmy shrew – must consume the equivalent of its own body weight every 24 hours.'
'Shrews are phenomenally aggressive and although their teeth are small, they are razor sharp – a shrew bite is memorable!'
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| Professor Buczacki
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Only three British mammals hibernate in order to survive the coldest months - bats (as a group), dormice and hedgehogs. One creature that I always feel should hibernate, but somehow manages to do without, is the shrew.
Food for thought
In proportion to its size, shrews have to eat more than any other mammals, simply to keep up their body weight and temperature. In fact, the smallest British species – also the smallest European mammal – the pygmy shrew, is active both day and night. It must consume the equivalent of its own body weight every 24 hours. To add to their cold weather problems, shrews are insectivores, so their prey is almost bound to be in short supply over winter.
British species
Overall, there are six British species of shrew, but the pygmy shrew and its slightly bigger relative the common shrew are those likely to occur in gardens in most areas.
Unlike many animals known as 'the common', the species known as the common shrew really is. It is not only the most frequently found British shrew but is also, after the field vole, the second commonest British mammal with a national population estimated at over 40 million. There are certainly plenty in my garden – and I know this not because I see them very often, but because our cat catches plenty. However, like most cats, he doesn't eat them, presumably finding the liquid produced by certain skin glands to be distasteful.
If you do find a shrew and corner it – or want to rescue one from your cat – beware and use thick gloves. Shrews are phenomenally aggressive and although their teeth are small, they are razor sharp. There is also some evidence that their saliva contains a toxin – a shrew bite is memorable!
Common shrew
Common shrews are dark brown or nearly black above, almost white beneath, living among dense grass and other vegetation in woods and at woodland edges. They have adapted very well to roadside verges and wilder parts of gardens, often burrowing below ground, feeding on earthworms, beetles, spiders, slugs, snails and other invertebrates. The pygmy shrew is paler in colour than its relative and for a long time they were believed to be the young of common shrews. They weren't recognised as a distinct species until well into the 19th century. Unlike common shrews, they don't burrow and occur in more open habitats, although they eat similar food. They are the only shrews to be found in Ireland.
Bad luck!
It has long been thought bad luck to see a shrew when starting on a journey - the fact that shrews are sometimes found dead at the side of paths was considered evidence for this. It doesn't seem to have occurred to anyone that dead shrews are only seen at the side of the paths because that is where people walk; there are just as many lying dead in other places too.
About the author
Professor Stefan Buczacki writes about wildlife every month in
Gardens Monthly magazine. He gained a first-class honours degree in botany at Southampton University, obtained a D.Phil. in forest science at Oxford and embarked on a career in research. In 1984 he began writing and broadcasting and has achieved numerous awards and distinctions as a naturalist. He is passionate about the British countryside and its fauna, and this is no more apparent than in his 50th book
Fauna Britannica, the result of four years' research. The book includes a foreward by HRH the Prince of Wales and is published by
Hamlyn.
About the photographer
Images supplied by
David Chapman Wildlife Photography
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