Among all mammals, the shrews (Sorex saussurei) are perhaps the ones who suffer the most from our irrational fear of rats and mice. Because their physiognomy is so similar to that of these animals, they are often victims of brooms and shoes that many people throw at them to scare them, to say the least. The truth is that shrews have many characteristics that make them unique and, in fact, one can distinguish them at a glance if one pays attention to them.
Shrews' fur, for example, is brown or dark chocolate brown and their tails are hairless, although they have gray coloration on the underside and brown (the same shade as their body) on top. Their most distinctive feature, however, is undoubtedly their funnel-shaped snout, which gives them an excellent sense of smell. Another feature that one can notice at a glance is their aggressiveness, if found near their burrow or their young, the shrew will never escape without first defending itself. When in heat, their most active season, shrews come out especially at night. The rest of the year they are active day and night.
They are especially territorial animals (hence their bad temper) and even occupy the burrows of other animals such as mice, moles or gophers and defend them as if they had dug them themselves. They usually choose their burrows in places with abundant vegetation. Although these are the places where their natural predators such as snakes, owls, owls and weasels live, they are also the areas where crickets, grasshoppers, bees, wasps and flies breed, their main source of food.
In the city they can be found in the Tlalpan Forest, Cumbres del Ajusco National Park, Pedregal de San Angel and the Chichinautizin de Milpa Alta Biological Corridor Flora and Fauna Protection Area. And like some of us, they are very nervous animals, so much so that they can die from stress or frequent scares. Although it is not an endangered species, it is less and less frequent to see shrews because, as with other species, the places where they live are becoming fewer and fewer.
Thanks to Master of Science Rafael Silvio for his help in this article.
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