Musings

Sunday, April 19, 2015

Common Shrew


Came across this whilst doing the WeBS survey on Friday: a common shrew, Sorex araneus. They are widespread and common, as the name suggests, being one of Europe's commonest mammals. Consequently they feature on the menu of many a predator. They are largely nocturnal to avoid such a culinary fate. They need to consume 2-3x their own mass each day and can starve to death in a few as five hours. They are unable to store sufficient fat to hibernate so are active year-round. I'm not really sure what this one succumbed to.

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