SMALLER MAMMALS OF NORTH AMERICA 



593 



surface and raising it a little in a 

 slight but distinctly rounded ridge. 

 Such tunnels wandered widely and 

 on the ice of the Yukon River I 

 traced one of them more than a mile 

 and repeatedly saw them crossing the 

 river from bank to bank. It was sur- 

 prising to note the ability of the little 

 travelers under the surface to keep 

 in so nearly a direct line for long dis- 

 tances. 



At times these little adventurers 

 make similar tunnels in the snow far 

 out on the sea ice. The mythology 

 of the Eskimos contains accounts of 

 many supernatural animals which a 

 lone hunter may meet and which 

 have the power to do him deadly 

 harm. Among these the "sea shrew" 

 is one of the most malignant. Its 

 appearance is described as exactly 

 like that of the common land shrew, 

 but it is said to live on the ice at sea, 

 and if it sees a hunter to dart at him 

 through the air, pierce the skin, and, 

 after running all through the body 

 with incredible rapidity, to enter the 

 man's heart and kill him. In con- 

 sequence of this belief the Eskimo 

 hunters were in mortal terror if they 

 chanced to encounter a stray shrew 

 on the sea ice. I knew one hunter 

 who suddenly meeting one on the ice 

 stood motionless for hours until the 

 shrew wandered out of sight. He 

 then hastened home and all the other 

 hunters agreed he had had a lucky 

 escape. 



THE SHORT-TAILED SHREW 

 (Blarina brevicauda and its 



relatives) 



{for illustration, sec page 566) 



Several groups of species or genera 

 of the little mouselike animals known 

 as shrews are peculiar to North 

 America. Of these one of the most 

 numerous and best known is the short- 

 tailed shrew. It is a dark-colored 

 animal much more heavily propor- 

 tioned, larger, and with a shorter tail 

 than the common shrew. Its fur is 

 so thick and velvety that it is con- 

 fused by many people with the mole, 

 despite its smaller size. 



The short-tailed shrews, sometimes 

 called mole shrews, of the genus Bla- 

 rina belong to a single species with 

 several geographic races occupying 

 eastern Canada and the United States, 

 from Nova Scotia, southern Quebec, Ontario, 

 Minnesota, and North Dakota southward to 

 Florida and the Gulf coast as far as eastern 

 Texas. Vertically they range from sea-level 

 up to the tops of the Alleghenies. Another 

 group of American shrews, containing numer- 

 ous species belonging to the genus Cryptotis, 



LITTLE SKUNK, POLECAT, OR SPILOGALK 



This trail combines the characteristics of the skunk 

 with those of a squirrel. At first it looks like the track 

 of a stubby-toed squirrel, but the five-inch toe on the 

 front foot is plainly seen. The frequent pairing of the 

 fore paws is important. There is no tail mark (see 

 pages 558 and 576). 



occupies the mountains of the Western States, 

 and ranges south to northern South America. 

 In external form it is indistinguishable from 

 the short-tailed species. 



Probaljly no mammal is more numerous in 

 the eastern United States than the short-tailed 

 shrew. It occurs everywhere — in forests, in 



