A tiny shrew is a mammal of the family of shrews of the insectivorous detachment, similar to a small mouse. The tiny animal got its name from the word “brown”, since the tops of the teeth of the creature really differ in this unusual color.
Habitat
You can meet a shrew almost everywhere, often more than three species of these animals live in the same area at the same time. For example, in the Moscow Region there are as many as six varieties of shrews: the common shrew, small and medium, tiny, equal toothed and kutora.
Equine teeth are found in the factories and riverbanks, as well as the common cutter, who are great lovers of dampness. Medium and tiny shrews are among the rarest species that prefer coniferous, taiga forests. Small shrew and common settle in open areas - in the steppe, meadows, and woodlands.
The shrew is unpretentious in terms of comfortable living conditions, but an abundance of food all year round is a necessary condition for it. Traveling for considerable distances in search of food for a small animal is not possible, and it is not able to withstand without food for more than 3-4 hours.
Characteristic
The tiny shrew is one of the smallest insectivorous creatures in Russia and Europe. The size of the adult with the tail is 6-7 cm, and the weight does not exceed five grams. The description of a tiny shrew is more correct to start with a silky fur of a delicate coffee color on the back, turning into a light fluff on the stomach. The tail, which is slightly more than half the length of the shrew, is also two-tone. Feet are not covered with fur.
In summer, the color of the beast dims slightly, in winter it becomes saturated. The ears of the animal are small, but the hearing is very well developed, as are the sense of touch and intuition. The elongated head ends with a proboscis nose with a puffing vibrissa (long mustache).
Shrews do not live for more than a year and a half, and approximately a fifth of this short life lasts their breeding season. Unlike most animals, the gestational age of the female is not strictly fixed. Cubs will be born healthy both in 18, and in 28 days. The average number of babies per litter is about five, but sometimes 8. The adult female brings 1 to two litters in her life.
Lifestyle
The high vital activity of the tiny shrew is due to the constant search for food. At least 70 times during the day, the animal’s activity freezes for a short time - a 10-15 minute sleep. Then the fuss resumes.
To maintain normal functioning, a tiny shrew must consume an amount of food twice its body weight. In the warm season, intensive searches for food are carried out throughout the territory, which the animal is able to cover with short dashes: on trees, in the soil. In winter, searches are carried out exclusively on the soil, and under the snow the animal is oriented as well as in the open.
Shrews willingly eat all living things, which is smaller than their size, but in the cold season they do not disdain the waste products of their own kind and other large animals. In a particularly hungry time, adult shrews calmly include fellow tribesmen in their diet.
Interesting Facts
In winter, shrews do not hibernate, but it is almost impossible to see them on the surface of the snow cover. Due to overly catchy coloring, animals leave the snowy territories only in situations of emergency and when they are very hungry. This prudence could be called superfluous, since the strong specific smell of the animal discourages predators from hunting, if not for owls, they are the only representatives of predatory fauna who are not so whimsical.
Despite its small growth, the shrew is a carrier of a huge number of various parasites and ticks. Insects settle in the dense fur of the animal and often cause the death of the shrew.
Another interesting fact is that a tiny shrew at any time of the year maintains the highest body temperature compared to all mammals on the planet - from 40 0 .
Most of the animals of this species live in the taiga - an average of 350-400 shrews per 1 ha, but in the remaining areas of their habitat the existence of tiny creatures is at risk. In the Murmansk region, a tiny shrew is listed in the Red Book.