308 



MAMMALS OF AMERICA 



Extreme northern British Columbia to Hudson Bay. 



Wandering Shrew. — Sorcx "^ituraiis vagrans Baird. 

 Size small ; tail as long as head and body ; dark brown 

 or russet on upper parts. Southern British Columbia, 

 western Washington, Oregon and northern California. 



Dusky Shrew. — Sorcx obscurus obscurus Mer- 

 riam. Larger than Wandering Shrew or Common 

 Shrew ; sepia-brown above. British Columbia and 

 mountains of Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, 

 Utah and Colorado south into California. 



Trowbridge's Shrew. — Sorcx trowbridgii Baird. 

 Size large ; sooty brown or black. Western Washing- 

 ton and Oregon. 



California Shrew. — Sorex calif oruiciis calijornicus 

 Merriam. .Size small ; above, dark ash-gray and 

 blackish. Central California. 



Fisher's Shrew. — Sorcx fisheri Merriam. Size 

 large ; dull chestnut-brown above. Virginia and North 

 Carolina. 



Pacific Shrew. — Sorcx />acificus Coues. Largest 

 Shrew of the genus Sorcx ; length about b inches ; cin- 

 namon-rufous above. Pacific Coast from Point Reyes, 

 California, to Vaquina Bay. Oregon. 



Pygmy Shrew, or Hoy's Shrew. — Microsorcx hoyi 

 (Baird). Smallest of all the Shrews and smallest 

 North American mammal ; total length. 3.2 inches ; tail 

 vertebrae, 1.25 inches: sepia-brown above, paler below. 

 Wisconsin to North Dakota and British Columbia. 



Short-tailed Shrew. — HIariiia brcvicauda (Say). 

 See special sxnopsis. 



Water Shrew. — Ncosorcx /'u/iiifrii (Richardson). 

 See special synopsis. 



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Photograph by West Va. University Experiment Station 



SHORT-TAILED SHREW 

 Shrews are even less known than Moles, due to their retiring disposition, but are hardly less numerous 



" Considering the abundance of these ani- 

 mals," says Samuel N. Rhoads, " it seems strange 

 that the name ' Shrew ' has not come into more 

 general use, especially among persons who live 

 in the country and see them often. When re- 

 ferred to on the fartn they are almost invariably 

 designed ' Mole ' or ' Mouse ' and the name 

 ' Shrew ' is scarcely recognized as belonging to a 

 North American animal. The Shrews constitute 

 a family by themselves, however, and may very 

 easily be distinguished from the Moles by their 

 smaller size and Mouse-like fore feet, and from 

 the Mice by their pointed nose, small eyes and 

 finer fur." 



The Common Shrew has a wider range than 

 any other of the long-tailed group ; indeed its 

 area of distribution is larger than that of any 

 other American species, extending across the 



entire continent from Alaska to New England 

 except the southern Rocky Mountains and the 

 Cascade-Sierra systems. In the Sottth it is 

 foimd in the higher Alleghenies to Tennessee 

 and North Carolina. It is known by various 

 names, as Cooper's Shrew, the Masked Shrew, 

 and the Shrew Mouse. 



This diminutive animal makes its home in the 

 hollow parts of fallen trees, under wood piles or 

 logs, or in any sheltered place where it is likely 

 to be undisturbed. It does not burrow; but Mr. 

 Theo. 11. Scheffer, of the U. S. Biological Sur- 

 vey, has found that it is a frequent trespasser 

 in the underground galleries of the Mole. 

 Though not aquatic, it prefers to dwell near 

 some small stream that will not freeze in 

 winter nor run dry or stagnate in summer. A 

 verv drv summer means death to numbers of 



