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| Northern Short-tailed Shrew1 | ||||||||||||||
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| Blarina brevicauda (Say, 1823) |
The Northern Short-tailed Shrew (Blarina brevicauda) is a large shrew found in central and eastern North America from southern Saskatchewan to Atlantic Canada and south to Nebraska and Georgia. At one time, this species and the Southern Short-tailed Shrew, B. carolinensis, were considered to be a single species.
It is slate grey in colour with light underparts. Its body is about 10 cm in length including a 2 cm long tail. It weighs about 21 g, about the same as a house mouse.
This animal is found in damp hardwood and coniferous forests and wet open areas.
It eats insects, earthworms, snails, small rodents and plant material. This red-toothed shrew digs through dense leaf litter and can also tunnel in moist soil. It has scent glands that release a musky secretion which repels some predators; males also use scent to mark their territory.
Mating begins in early spring and may occur until late fall. The female has 2 or 3 litters of 5 to 7 young in a nest in a tunnel or under a fallen log.
Glands in its mouth contain a neurotoxin that allows it to immobilize larger animals such as snakes and birds. If not able to find food within about a two-hour period, these small mammals will attack and eat each other.3
References
- ^ Hutterer, Rainer (2005-11-16). in Wilson, D. E., and Reeder, D. M. (eds): Mammal Species of the World, 3rd edition, Johns Hopkins University Press, 269. ISBN 0-801-88221-4.
- ^ Insectivore Specialist Group (1996). Blarina brevicauda. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 12 May 2006. Database entry includes a brief justification of why this species is of least concern
- ^ "Poisonous Animals: Soricidae". Archived from the original on 2007-02-17. Retrieved on 2006-12-28.
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