76 SECOND BIENNIAL EEPORT [W. VA. 



settler. It furnished him with fur and meat and in return killed his pigs, 

 sheep and other live stock. Eeports of depredations in farming districts situ- 

 at^ed near to large wooded tracts are still heard. Twenty-five sheep belong- 

 ing to Mr. W. 0. John scon were killed by bears in the Caanan valley in the year 

 1908. 



Common Shrew or Masked Shrew, Sorex personaiua Geoff. S. H. 



Found in marshy places and damp woods in the higher parts of the State. 

 I- have collected it at Pickens, French Creek and Cranberry Glades. 



This is the smallest of our mammals. Including its relatively long tail, 

 it measures only a little over four inches in length. Most of its life is speat 

 under ground. Its food is chiefly insects and other low forms of animal 

 life. Like all the shrews, this species may be regarded as being beneficial 

 on account of the injurious insects which it devours. 



Smoky Shrews, Sorex fumeus Miller. 



This shrew has been taken wherever I have trapped in suitable places within 

 the Transition and Canadian zones. It is often found in company with 

 personatus but is rather more abundant than that species. Have collected it 

 at French Creek, Cranberry Glades, Terra Alta, Pickens, Oscela, and in other 

 localities. 



The Smoky shrew is slightly larger than the common shrew but otherwise 

 resembles it quite closely. Its habits are much the same. These shrews, on 

 account of their diminutive size and retiring habits, are rarely seen even in 

 localities where they are abundant. Their size, very small eyes, pointed nose 

 and soft, silken fur will serve to distinguish them from all species of mice, 

 and their long tails from the two shrews described next. 



Short-tailed Shrew, Blarina brevicauda Say. 



Common everywhere in woods, fields and about gardens and lawns, may 

 be distinguished from moles by its much smaller size and small, mouse-like 

 forefeet. Eats great numbers of injurious insects. 



Little Brown Shrew, Blarina parva Say. 



Has been collected at White Sulphur Springs by Thaddeus Surber. Smaller 

 than the short-tailed shrew. Sepia brown above and ash gray beneath. Habits 

 are supposed to agree with those of other shrews. 



Naked-tail Mole, Scalpos aquaticus Linn. 



I have no records of this mole from West Virginia but from its known dis- 

 tribution in other states it should be found in our counties lying east of the 

 Allegheny mountains. Very similar to the next species except that the tail 

 is not hairy. 



Brewer 's Mole or Hairy-tail Mole, Parascalops breiveri Bach. 



The common mole of all our region east of the Allegheny mountains, live 

 underground and feeds almost exclusively, on an animal diet. Earthworms 

 are one of its favorite foods although it takes grub-worms and other sub- 

 terranean insects. In making its burrows through the soil it frequently casts 

 out the earth and forms small mounds on the surface of the ground. Its large, 

 hand-like forefeet, pointed nose, small eyes and silken fur are too well known 

 to require further description. 



