Vagrant Shrew
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| Vagrant Shrew[1] | ||||||||||||||
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| Sorex vagrans Baird, 1857 |
The Vagrant Shrew (Sorex vagrans) is a medium-sized North American shrew. At one time, the Montane Shrew (S. monticolus) was considered to belong to the same species as this animal.
It is red brown in colour with greyer underparts and a long tail which is sometimes paler underneath. During winter, its fur is dark brown. Its body is about 10 cm in length including a 4 cm long tail and it weighs about 6 g.
This animal is found in open and wooded areas in western Canada and the United States west of the Continental Divide.
It often uses runways created by voles. Its diet includes insects, earthworms, salamanders, small mammals and some plant material. Predators include owls, snakes and mustelids. This animal sometimes uses echolocation to orient itself in unfamiliar locations.
This animal is active year-round, mainly at night. It is mainly solitary except during breeding which mainly occurs in the spring. The female has 1 or 2 litters of 3 to 8 young in a nest in a stump or under a log.
[edit] References
- ^ Hutterer, Rainer (2005-11-16). in Wilson, D. E., and Reeder, D. M. (eds): Mammal Species of the World, 3rd edition, Johns Hopkins University Press, 299. ISBN 0-801-88221-4.
- ^ Insectivore Specialist Group (1996). Sorex vagrans. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 09 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
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