Did you know the pygmy shrew can eat insects that would altogether weigh thrice or four times its own weight? Weighing barely 3 grams, the tiny mammal needs to eat all day long. What is strange is it would die within two or three hours if it does not get food.
The common shrew is always hungry: it needs to eat 80-90% of its body weight every day to survive. It mainly preys on insects, but will also eat slugs and snails, and will happily tackle earthworms as long as 10cm – bigger than its own body!
The masked shrew, sharing much of the same habitat, eats the same creatures, but also survives by eating slugs, snails and moths.
Food habit studies have revealed that shrews eat beetles, grasshoppers, butterfly and moth larvae, ichneumonid wasps, crickets, spiders, snails, earthworms, slugs, centipedes, and millipedes. The common shrew (Sorex araneus), also known as the Eurasian shrew, is the most common shrew, and one of the most common mammals, throughout Northern Europe, including Great Britain, but excluding Ireland.
Picture Credit : Google
