SHREWS, MOLES AND HEDGEHOGS Family Soricidae: 300 species of
shrews in 23 genera. Shrews, moles and hedgehogs are small
animals with long narrow pointed and usually mobile snouts. They
feed on invertebrates, insects and earthworms, and vegetable
matter. Their dental formulae are variable and adapted to hold
and crush invertebrates. The three families are easy to tell
apart. Shrews are very small, fierce, furry, mostly solitary
mammals, that produce distasteful secretions to deter predators.
Most species live in moist microhabitats in forests, woods and
grass lands; some are aquatic. A shrew’s very high metabolic
rate forces it to spend all its time hunting for any prey it can
handle. 1. The Eurasian pigmy shrew, Sorex minutus, feeds on
woodlice and flies. This shrew, Britain’s smallest mammal, is so
small it will starve to death if it is does not eat all the
time. Shrews have well differentiated teeth with a variable
dental formula of I3/1-2; C1/0-1; PM1-3/1; M3/3 = 26 - 32. 2.
The European water shrew, Neomy