THE WATER SHREW 14S 



back downwards to the wires, an unexpected exhibition of 

 agiHty in such a usually aquatic animal. This power of 

 climbing had been previously observed by an anonymous, but 

 evidently, as regards this point, accurate writer, who stated^ 

 that he had kept a pair, male and female, in captivity 

 with some success, feeding them on raw meat and small fish, 

 which latter they held with their forepaws, like an otter. 

 Mr English, whose remarks have been quoted above, and 

 Mr Cocks have kept various individual water shrews in 

 captivity for long periods. They appeared to have some 

 notion of making a foodstore, since Mr English observed that 

 after clearing their tank of its living contents, as they always 

 did in the course of a night, there were always to be found in 

 the morning seven or eight small fishes piled neatly in some 

 high, dry corner ; and, as already mentioned, Mr Cocks found 

 that worms were disabled and stored for future use. 



Mrs Brightwen fed two upon the heads of fowls. She remarks 

 that " there is hardly any animal in England so fierce and 

 combative."^ If the attention of one were attracted by a 

 feather, "he always came out of his bed and sprang upon the 

 feather like a little tiger, dragging it about and holding on 

 with the grip of a bull-dog, so that one could lift him off the 

 ground and keep him swinging a minute in the air." 



Mr Cocks, who writes ^ me that water shrews, being much 

 the largest and strongest of the three British species, are 

 more easily transferred from a wild life to a cage, has published 

 a lively account of one which lived in his care for a day over 

 eight months.^ Having been caught on 8th August, she gave 

 birth " to a litter of four or five young during that night ; 

 they were blind and naked, and hardly larger than common 

 house-flies, not nearly so large as bluebottles. She had had 

 no time to prepare a nest, and after taking every care of them 

 for two whole days, she ate them during the third night. 



"Up to the time of writing, she has thriven on a 'diet of 

 worms,' occasionally varied by a beetle, grub, moth, etc., and 

 captured a fly which incautiously came of its own accord within 



1 Field, 3rd October 1863, 345. ^ Op. cit., 124. 



2 Amplifying his account in Vic. Co. Hist., Buckinghamshire. 

 * Another Hved for several months. 



