'shrew'

shrew

mike (152.163.36.226) -

I have a bunch of shrews in my back yard how can i get rid of them?

Comment #1 Lisa (152.163.40.50) -

Feel them to your BOA...

Comment #2 MissyG (64.136.27.228) -

If they are in your backyard, why not just leave them there? Or get a hunting cat.

Comment #3 Bill (152.163.40.43) -

Shrews are unusual among mammals in a number of respects. Unlike most mammals, some species of shrew are venomous. The other venomous mammals are the platypus, solenodon, and slow loris. Also, along with the bats and toothed whales, some species of shrew use echolocation

Shrews have a high metabolic rate and so must feed almost constantly when not sleeping. Shrews are not able to hibernate.

• Shrews

Comment #4 Courtney (1) from The South -

I never knew what a shrew was until now. I thought it was just an ugly name you call people. I live in west texas and we don't get them. We have prarie dogs and armadillos.

Comment #5 Jeanette from AZ -

I don't think we have shrews here in AZ or maybe we do and I've just never seen them. All I've seen out here are coyotes!!

Comment #6 The Wizard from Somewhere over the rainbow -

Shrews are more disgusting than mice.

Comment #7 Bizzy from Hamster Wheel -

By no means do I think I'm right about this, but the shrew may only be in this part of the USA: parts of Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine.

Comment #8 sankeerthana (59.92.21.42) -

whales are largest animals in the world.infact the enourmous which can measure 30 metres long, is probably the biggest animalthat has ever lived.whales are able to gro so large because their huge weight is supported by the water.if a land animal grew to its size its legs would collapse under the weight of its own body.

the sperm whale preys on gaint squid.it is able to dive to depths of over 3000 metres and stay under water for over an hour in search of its deep - dwelling prey.

there are different types of whales such as sei whale , killer whale , sperm whale , blue whale , whale shark , etc..

Comment #9 Big Dog from The Woods -

That is an informative post, but hardly has anything to do with Shrews!!!??!?! A new message might have been in order.

Comment #10 the gypsie in indiana (98.227.83.117) -

got shrews?

I just moved into my beautiful new...old house. We have this really neato room in the front that has windows all around it and decided that it would be the greatest place for not only our pc's, but also our birdies in the summer. Which as long as the air is on...is. The morning sun comes right in, but isn't too hot yet and by the time it is, it's indirect.

Ok...so to the point already. One night...the early riser, me. Decides to stay up all night and watch the sunrise...(after playing my MMORPG all night).

I hear something scratching in the wall. hmmmmm mice? I know we have a crawl, so I'm thinking, well maybe it's down under the house and because it's so quiet, it just sounds near.

Next day...my dogs begin finding game in chasing something around my cute little office with the birds. What has having my precious birdies brought in with their birdseed? Sunlight....neh? SHREWS!!

My daughter said that she lay on the couch (in the next room) and watched a little animal which was smaller than a mouse, black with a long nose...eating bird seed.

So I begin my research this morning. PHEWWWWW!!! Shrews are NOT rodents! They are, in fact, mammals. They have 5 fingers on each of their feet (hands?).

They can be quite aggressive, which is bothersome with my 4lb. Chihuahua. And than too...some are endangered here where I live, so I'm in a sucky position. Can't kill it (wouldn't anyway) and it's really tiny, so how the hell do you keep it out?!

Live with it? ehhh no. My daughter thinks it would make a fine pet. I think it would make good hawk food...which is why the hawks find our neighborhood a nice nesting place as well. And of course the reason why I can't let my baby Chi outside in the yard.

So get rid of the shrews...get rid of the hawks. But I'm still not quite sure of how to do that without harming a shrew, so the research goes on here.

Comment #11 Evolutionary Biologist (130.239.50.222) - Mon Aug 18 10:13:06 2008

Shrews are one of the smallest mammals in the world, some species can weight under 2g. As insectivores they feed on high quality food, such as nuts (or seeds), small insects and invertebrates (they can also feed on dead animals - seen in live vole trapping). Because of their high metabolism (due to the fact that they are so small) these mammals need to eat almost all the time, some eat as frequently as every 15min and some eat only every 2h.

If you can't kill the shrews because they are rare, threatened, endangered or red listed you might be able to discourage them by getting rid of the bird food - one less thing for them to feed on. Unfortunately, you would, for a time, lose your bird visitors, but since hawks would probably feed both on the shrews and the birds (birds are usually light but may be bigger, offering the hawks more meat and use less energy foraging) you may also get rid of the hawks, once they realize that their food resource has depleted. It might be worth a try. Good luck.

Name:           
E-Mail:         

Optional (please add to our directory first)
Web Link:       
Link Title:     

Message:

Note: once you register your email address with Pets and Animals it is used across our whole network of forums and blogs. You can create seperate profiles for each forum or blog, but use the same login.