SHREW, a term applied to the members of the family Soricidae of the mammalian order Insectivora (q.v.).
Sorex araneus, the common shrew, or shrew-mouse (though it does not resemble the mouse in structure or in habits) is a small animal about the size of a mouse, but distinguished externally by its long slender muzzle, which projects far beyond the lower lip. The small eyes are almost concealed by fur; the ears are short, wide and provided internally with a pair of deep folds capable of closing the entrance ; the tail is slightly shorter than the body, quadrangular in section, and hairy, with a short tuft at the tip. The body fur is soft and dense, brown above, grey below. Between the elbow and the knee is a gland secreting a fluid with an unpleasant cheesy odour.
The lesser or pigmy shrew (S. minutes) is smaller and differs slightly in its dentition. Like the last, it extends across the whole of Europe and Asia. Both live in the neighbourhood of woods,
feeding by night on insects, worms, and slugs. They are pug nacious and very voracious and produce five to seven naked, blind, and toothless young in a litter.
The alpine shrew (S. alpinus) is restricted to the Alps of Central Europe. It is slightly larger than the common shrew and the fur is uniformly dark.
The largest American shrew is S. bendiri. Numerous other species, many belonging to the allied genus Blarina, characterized by a short tail, occur on this continent. They resemble the Old World shrews in habits.
The water-shrew (Neomys fodiens) is larger than the common shrew and aquatic in habits. It has much the same range as S. araneus. In America, two species of Sorex are aquatic, S. palustris being the commonest.