HOW TO KNO\XA THE WILD ANIMALS 



By DOUGLAS ENGLISH, B.A., F.R.P.S. 

 Author cf "^X'■ee Tim'rous Beasties," etc. 



THE SHREW MICE— II 



THE WATER SHREW MOUSE. THE COMMON SHREW MOUSE 



THE PYGMY SHREW MOUSE 



With Photographs by the Author 



THE diet of Shrew Mice in general 

 (the Water Shrew Mouse will be 

 more particularly referred to later) 

 consists largely of insects and mollusca. 

 To this end their teeth have evidently 

 been specialised, the long central incisors 

 forming a pair of roughened forceps, 

 while the molars, whose cutting edges take 

 the form of successive V's or W's, are 

 clearly adapted for crunching hard ma- 

 terial. Small snails are a favourite dainty. 

 Sometimes the snail is extracted from his 

 fortress, but the jaws of our two larger 

 species are quite capable of crushing a 

 small snail-shell, and the Shrew Mouse, 

 when roused to bite, bites with a reckless 

 energy. I have, on three occasions, found 

 dead Shrew Mice in my traps who had 

 broken one or more of their central in- 

 cisors in their frantic efforts to escape. 

 I would impress upon those of my readers 

 who may be interested in trapi)ing small 

 animals alive, that in the case of Common 

 or Water Shrew Mice the traps should 

 be visited at least twice an hour, while 

 to have the chance of securing a live 

 Pygmy, one should be able to sight tlie 

 trap every ten minutes. 



In addition to insects and mollusca, 

 Shrew Mice will readily devour any 

 carrion, fur or feather (a shrimp is a good 

 bait for the Water Shrew Mouse), and 

 probably do much more as scavengers 

 than we are aware of. As a general rule 

 they stand well clear of the ground while 

 feeding, but sometimes in the case of a 

 slippery meal — an earth-worm for instance 

 — they employ their hands to help their 

 teeth. They leave nothing behind which 

 they can bite. An earth-worm is seized 



by one end, swung from one side of the 

 jaw to the other, and crushed by the right 

 and left molars alternately, growing 

 shorter and shorter until he disappears 

 completely. A fair-sized beetle (the Shrew 

 Mouse is extremely fond of cockroaches 

 also) is caught by the head, and this 

 portion is prudently disposed of first. 

 Small beetles disappear entirely, and the 

 meal, which is consumed at a lightning 

 pace, is followed by a lightning digestion. 

 On occasion Shrew Mice will drink with 

 a curiously bird-like action. The snout 

 describes a small arc in the water, and 

 at the end of its sweep points almost per- 

 pendicularly upwards. 



I am not satisfied that Shrew Mice 

 have any regular breeding season, and 

 I am inclined to think that their breed- 

 ing depends on favourable conditions 

 of temperature and food supply. At 

 the same time, from the recurrent mor- 

 tality amongst them in the spring, one 

 can fancy that at this season, if any, the 

 males are instinctively most warlike. 

 The autumn mortality has never been 

 satisfactorily explained, but the fact that 

 it is not invariable would seem to suggest 

 that weather conditions have much to 

 do with it, either by curtailing the food 

 supply, or by actually affecting the 

 Shrew Mouse's health. I have found 

 captive Shrew Mice extremely sensitive 

 to atmospheric disturbances which do 

 not evidently affect beasties of a more 

 robust constitution. 



A duel between Shrew Mice is, as might 

 be expected from their strenuous nature, 

 worth v.atching. The commencement on 

 both sides is circumspect. The com- 



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