Southern short-tailed shrew

The southern short-tailed shrew (Blarina carolinensis) is a gray, short-tailed shrew that inhabits the eastern United States.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Description

The southern short-tailed shrew is the smallest shrew in its genus, measuring Template:Cvt in total length, and weighing less than Template:Cvt. It has a comparatively heavy body, with short limbs and a thick neck, a long, pointed snout and ears that are nearly concealed by its soft, dense fur. As its name indicates, the hairy tail is relatively short, measuring Template:Cvt. The feet are adapted for digging, with five toes ending in sharp, curved claws. The fur is slate gray, being paler on the underparts.<ref name=McCay2001>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Distribution and habitat

The southern short-tailed shrew is found in the southeastern United States, from southern Virginia to eastern Texas, to central Oklahoma, and in the Mississippi valley as far as southern Illinois. Within this region, it is found primarily in pine forests.<ref name=McCay2001/> However, these range from dry to wet and even swampy habitats, as well as disturbed forests and abandoned agricultural land.<ref name=Briese1974>Template:Cite journal</ref>

There are two recognized subspecies:<ref name=McCay2001/>

• B. c. carolinensis – southern Virginia to northern Florida, and west to eastern Mississippi, southern Illinois, northeastern Texas, and central Oklahoma.
• B. c. minima – eastern Texas, Louisiana, and the Mississippi valley to eastern Arkansas and far western Kentucky

Fossils of the species are known from the Pleistocene, during which time they may have spread as far north as South Dakota.<ref name=McCay2001/>

Biology and behavior

The southern short-tailed shrew's diet consists of insects, annelids, hypogeous fungi, slugs and snails, centipedes, and spiders. Known predators include snakes, hawks, owls, and foxes.<ref name=McCay2001/> It has been known to store snails for the winter.Template:Citation needed The saliva is venomous and is injected into the wounds of its prey by the teeth. Its venom is strong enough to kill mice, but is not lethal to humans, though it causes severe pain.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

The short-tailed shrew has a high metabolism and eats about half its body weight in a day. It navigates and locates prey by echolocation.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The southern short-tailed shrew is a social animal; it has been known to share its burrow systems with several individuals. The male and female live together during the prebreeding season. The burrows are built in two layers, one near the surface, and a deeper one joined below it. The burrows are often built below logs, which can be penetrated and honeycombed if the log is rotten.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Reproduction

The breeding season lasts from March to November, and females have two or three litters per year.<ref name=McCay2001/> The gestation period lasts from 21 to 30 days,Template:Citation needed and each litter consists of two to six young.<ref name=McCay2001/> The young are reared in nests of grasses and leaves at the end of a tunnel reaching about Template:Convert below the ground, or in rotten logs.<ref name=McCay2001/> These nests for the young are much larger than the adults' resting nests.Template:Citation needed

Predation

In Florida, southern short-tailed shrews may be eaten by some growth stage of invasive snakes such as Burmese pythons, reticulated pythons, Central African rock pythons, Southern African rock pythons, boa constrictors, yellow anacondas, Bolivian anacondas, dark-spotted anacondas, and green anacondas.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

External links

• Mammals of Texas