The shrew has never been tamed
SHAKESPEARE in his 1584 play, ‘The Taming of the Shrew’, cast Katharina as The Shrew. He used the term shrew, which is derived from the Old English word ‘screawa’ in its true meaning of an ill-disposed person.
Shrews are, in fact, mammals for they are superficially mouselike creatures and members of the family Soricidae. Despite their long snouts and very sharp teeth, which can render a nasty bite, they are not rodents for they mostly feed on insects. European species are very small and, as warm blooded animals in a relatively cold climate such as the British Isles, they need to constantly eat to cope with their energy loss. The Pygmy shrew (Sorex minutus)
This species of shrew is the smallest British mammal at only 60 millimetres long and weighing almost 7.5 grams thus needing to daily consume, throughout day and night time hours, the equivalent of its bodily weight in order to survive. Interestingly, it is the only species of shrew found in Ireland. Common shrew (Sorex araneus)
This shrew has many local names in the UK, such as the harvest mouse or the harvestshrew, and it is estimated that there are over 4.5 million of these animals. Its upper body is dark brown fading to white underneath. Living at the edge of woodlands and in grass fields, it creates underground burrows and nests and feeds on earthworms, beetles, spiders, slugs and snails.
Both pygmy and common shrews are fairly aggressive and should not be handled unless wearing strong leather gardening gloves, for their very sharp, little, red incisor teeth bite deeply through flesh.
My daughter’s cat, on its night prowls, would catch these shrews from the hedges and lay them out in serried ranks on the lawn for morning inspection. Cats kill but never eat shrews, for the shrew emits poison from its skin glands and its saliva contains toxins. For centuries they were thought to be venomous creatures, hence Shakespeare’s shrew – Katharina. Water shrew (Neomys fodiens)
Often confused through the use of local names such as water-mole or water-vole, this species can easily be seen swimming, when air bubbles trapped in its fur are released to the surface. It is the largest of British shrews – over 90 millimetres in length – and lives in burrows in river banks. Because of its darkish brown to black colourations, it can easily be confused with a water rat. Its diet is principally composed of small fish, newts, tadpoles and any aquatic invertebrates. White-toothed shrew (Crocidura suaveolens)
These shrews are confined to two quite separate island groups – the Isles of Scilly (IOS), off Land’s End in Cornwall and on the Channel Islands (CI) off the coast of the Cotentin Peninsula in France.
The lesser white-toothed shrew is found in large numbers on the island of St Agnes (IOS) and on Alderney and Guernsey (CI). It is thought that, as these island groups are so far apart, this species of shrew were stowaways on trading or fishing boats between each group of islands.
Seen scurrying from hedgerows to beaches, these minute mammals essentially feed on beetles and sand hoppers. Their reproduction rates are prolific with up to four litters a year, which is probably related to the mildness of the climate in these island locations.
If the female’s nest is disturbed, she will pick up the first baby gently in her mouth and the rest of the litter attach themselves to the tail of the baby in front of them and the whole family beats a retreat. This is known as ‘caravanning’. It is not unlike the way elephants move with their calves and even suggests that shrews are related to elephants. Asian house shrew (Suncus murinus)
Sometimes known as the ‘money shrew’ for it makes a clunk click noise like coins in one’s pocket, it id found all over Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo. With mid-grey to brownish colourings and with short legs and five clawed toes, like its British counterparts it possesses a long snout.
Essentially an insectivore, it has carnivorous traits and is one of the largest of this mammalspecies at about 15 centimetres long and weighing up to 100 grams. By day it sleeps in its burrow but at night it prowls in search of cockroaches and house mice.
Its sharp teeth can even kill rats and geckos by its rasping bite on their necks followed by a good shaking of its prey. It is, indeed, a natural biological ‘pesticide’.
A prolific breeder with two litters per annum of eight babies in each litter, it, too, practices the art of ‘caravanning’ when threatened. With somewhat pungent droppings, it may be found inside houses but that is the price one pays for harbouring insects. Asian grey shrew (Crocidura attenuata)
This is a very common species of shrew found throughout China and Southeast Asia. Its long tail is two thirds its total body length averaging 80 millimetres and its colourations vary from greyish black to brown depending upon the season and its specific location. Its mean body weight stands at nine grams. In the Himalayan foothills, it is found up to an altitude of 3,000 metres where seasonal climate changes are very marked. Mainly insectivorous in its feeding habits, it hunts by day and night.
The reader may well ask the question, “Why isn’t there a mention of tree-shrews?” Currently these species are involved in much scientific debate for they are now thought of as more akin to primates rather than members of the shrew family. However, there is one species which is probably of the shrew family. Bornean smooth-tailed ‘tree’ shrew (Dendrogale melanura)
Only 13 millimetres long and weighing 43 grams, it has large ear flaps, with upper bodily colourings of dark brown to black with red streaks along its flanks. With a shorter snout than most shrew species and extremely sharp claws, they too feed on insects.
Shinning up trees like grease lightning they may rarely be seen these days on Gunung Mulu and on the lower slopes of Gunung Kinabalu, and at other locations on the Crocker Ranges of Sabah, at altitudes of between 900 and 3,300 metres. Few have been spotted in the last 30 years and they are considered as a threatened species.
Please be aware of handling shrews other than with gloved hands, for a shrew’s bite needs medical attention and can leave a very nasty scar. They cannot be tamed.