Cooper Shrew 1101 



each, so the jar was a shady place in the middle of an open run. 

 The Shrew seemed to rush along the tunnel with more haste 

 than discretion, and so was made prisoner. 



When trapping for larger creatures and using a meat bait, 

 one often finds the trap sprung without catching the meddler. 

 In many cases I have traced the matter home to this little 

 Shrew. 



In the early spring, while yet the snow is deep everywhere, 

 the sun-heat gathered by the long projecting grass, melts holes 

 through the drift to the ground below. These shafts, with a 

 strong stalk up the middle of each, afford a tempting opportunity 

 to scramble into the big world. The little Shrews often yield to 

 the temptation. They clamber up onto the vast expanse of 

 snow and, setting out to explore, they forget the way back to 

 the 'elevator-shaft,' and get lost. The snow is commonly 

 crusted at this season, so they cannot burrow, and usually 

 they die in a few hours, not from cold, but from hunger. 



A number of curious notes on the subterranean migration 

 of this Shrew, when the ground is covered with snow, are given 

 by Nelson in his "Natural History of Alaska."' 



"In fall [he says] the first severe weather brings them 

 about the trading stations and native villages, and there they 

 forage and penetrate every corner of the houses with all the 

 persistence of the domestic Mouse. Scores of them were 

 killed about our houses at Saint Michael every winter, and 

 they were equally numerous at the other stations throughout 



the interior. 



******* 



"After snowfalls they travel from place to place by 

 forcing a passage under the snow, and frequently keep so near 

 the surface that a slight ridge is left to mark their passage. On 

 the ice of the Yukon I have traced a ridge of this kind over a 

 mile, and was repeatedly surprised to see what a direct course 

 the Shrews could make for long distances under the surface. 

 These minute tunnels were noted again and again crossing the 

 Yukon from bank to bank. 



"Nat. Hist. Alaska, 1887, pp. 270-1. 



