Short-tailed Shrew 



*s 



Short-tailed Shrew 



Blarina btevicauda (Say) 

 Called also Mole Shrew. 



Length. 5 inches. 



Description. Rather stout, tail short, about one-quarter the length 

 of the head and body. Colour: sooty plumbeous, slightly 

 lighter below; varying in depth in changing light as the fur 

 is disturbed. Front teeth chestnut coloured at the tips. 



Range. Atlantic States to Nebraska, south to Ohio, Maryland 

 and the mountains of North Carolina. Replaced southward 

 by slightly different varieties. 



There is a class of little beasts common enough through- 

 out all our Northern States, yet hardly known by name or 

 otherwise. Resembling the mice in outward apppearance; in 

 their manner of living and getting their food they may almost 

 be said to copy the habits of the weasels. They have the lithe, 

 supple bodies and short legs of the weasel tribe without the 

 characteristic slimness of form; their flesh, like that of the weasel's, 

 is dark, fibrous and strong smelling. This might be attributed 

 to their similarly carnivorous habits, if it were not true that the 

 flesh of most meat-eating animals is comparatively light-coloured 

 and tender. 



It might even be objected that shrews are not truly car- 

 nivorous but insectivorous, the fact that they are actually the smallest 

 of beasts rendering them powerless against all but a very few of 

 their kindred. 



But ravenously fond of all kinds of flesh they certainly are, 

 and I believe that the young of the smaller ground-nesting birds 

 and perhaps young mice are frequently eaten by them. It would 

 not greatly surprise me to discover that they occasionally attack 

 creatures larger than themselves. Of the several distinct species 

 that should be found in most of the Eastern States, I have found 

 but one really abundant. This one is catalogued as the mole 

 shrew, and is found almost everywhere in great numbers. It is 

 commonly mistaken for a genuine mole, and small wonder; about 

 the only conspicuous difference being in the size of the fore feet, 

 A mole's fore feet are broad and hand-shaped to the extent of 



180 



