Shrew...who knew?

[Chickassan]

Crazy fast heartbeat and metabolism, if they don't eat they starve really fast they don't even sleep for more than a few minuites at a time any little deviation in their routine and "poof" dead shrew.
Even if everything goes perfect they do good to live a solid year.

Well, I’m fairly well versed in the mole, vole, shrew arena now. Oh, such knowledge. I think it might increase my worth by two shakes of a duck’s butt, but hey, I’ve definitely learned...that all three boogers are ugly. This is one thing I didn’t read. What makes them die so easily?

 

[nuthatched]

I guess you hardly ever see them...they're extremely fast and very secretive. They also have venom:
Unlike most mammals, some species of shrews are venomous. Shrew venom is not conducted into the wound by fangs, but by grooves in the teeth. The venom contains various compounds, and the contents of the venom glands of the American short-tailed shrew are sufficient to kill 200 mice by intravenous injection.

Hmm, I wonder how many shrews it would take to poison a person.... couple hundred?

 

[Chad Oftedal]

If you caught a wild one, would you be able to tame it?

Sorry, I'll see myself out now, no need to get up...

 

[Mimi13]

Hmm, I wonder how many shrews it would take to poison a person.... couple hundred?

Since they are solitary animals you’d probably never find enough all at once to inflict enough paralyzing venom to do you in.

 

[Mimi13]

If you caught a wild one, would you be able to tame it?

Sorry, I'll see myself out now, no need to get up...

Yeah, I don’t even wanna know why.

 

[nuthatched]

If you caught a wild one, would you be able to tame it?

Sorry, I'll see myself out now, no need to get up...

Since they are solitary animals you’d probably never find enough all at once to inflict enough paralyzing venom to do you in.

Maybe I can synthesize it.... I wonder if it's traceable.

 

[Trish1974]

So, there was a commotion in the chicken run yesterday. At least there is some evidence that something went down. I checked in on the chickens and found them in their coop during the day. That is not really an indicator of much, except that mine usually spend their entire day in the run, with only occasional visits to the coop for laying eggs, or just scratching around in the bedding. The odd part was that a few hours later, they were still in the coop, making lots of noise, and did not seem to want to go out into the run. I went out to check things, and upon entering the run, found what I first thought was a mouse, dead, on the ground near the door. Oddly, this "mouse" had no visible ears, or other telltale mouse features.

I had to look it up on google, and discovered it was a shrew! I didn't even know we had shews in Minnesota, and have never seen one before in my entire life. In any case, I think they found this thing, and attacked it, or something, and that it may have fought back. Two of the hens have slightly bloody scratches on their combs and wattles, but are otherwise doing fine. No wonder they didn't want to go back out into the run. They were probably in the coop...personal interpretation here of chicken behavior...shouting at each other about what in the world just happened!

I did read that chickens won't eat them, due to scent glands or something, which explains why they killed it, and left it there.

Anyone else have experiences with these?

Here it is...
View attachment 1972844

One of my cockbirds killed one the other day. I saw it in the security camera so I went out to see what all the commotion was about. By the time I got out there he had killed it and was tidbitting it to the hens. They were extremely disappointed with the offer and walked away in disgust!

 

[Mimi13]

They were extremely disappointed with the offer and walked away in disgust!

He is a pretty boy, but I can just picture the hens saying, “WTH! We wanted filet mignon, not stinky road kill.”

 

[vantain]

Interesting info from everyone about the shrew. I read also that they are very territorial, and if you have them, you likely don’t have mice. I found the dead shrew yesterday. Look what popped up on the security cam tonight! Can you see the beady eyes?

 

[pennyJo1960]

Interesting info from everyone about the shrew. I read also that they are very territorial, and if you have them, you likely don’t have mice. I found the dead shrew yesterday. Look what popped up on the security cam tonight! Can you see the beady eyes?
View attachment 1973105

nope