Shrews vs. House Mice

M

Montana Pete

Guest
What I thought were mice were really raising hob in my garage. Actually chewing holes in 2 x 4s and doing other damage.

I started trapping them, and I have caught a couple of short-tailed shrews in the traps.

I am thinking I should stop trapping at once, since the shrews would be preying on and killing the house mice. In other words, maybe I am killing the natural controls to the mice.

Does anyone know anything about these species, and how they interact?

Thanks--

I have a 22-250 but I do not think it would be very effective against either the shrews OR the house mice. It would be good for blowing the holy hell out of my garage walls, of course.
 
Montana Pete said:
Does anyone know anything about these species, and how they interact?
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Mice approach shrews with a great deal of trepidation, an attitude that I believe we could all do well to adopt. The case that William Shakespeare documented should be taken as the exception that proves the rule.
 
Do a web search on the "Rat Zapper". I was looking at an equipment catalog that came into work the other day and they have these zappers for rodents now. They're like $50 and under. A 50 dollar one really zaps big stuff!

If they work anything like a camera flash capacitor, I have no doubt it'll kill any rodent!

Course, the 22-250 might be more fun. :D
 
Shrews.....

Some time ago I read an article that related shrews as eating MACHINES, having no fear of larger prey, their only thought seems to be "....let me AT 'em...." one Herpetologist mistakenly fed one to a snake(didn't specify what kind), & came back maybe three quarters of an hour later, & only the shrew was in the cage!! Known for their voracious appetite.
 
Shrews....

Apparently, their metabolism is such that the energy is quickly burned off, creating this insatiable appetite. I don't think I've ever seen one, if I did, I didn't recognize it for what it was.
 
Rat Zapper

Okay, 4mesh. You have just cost me $46.49 for a Rat Zapper! I will let you know it if it gets rid of that *@#%!$ squirrel that has been bugging me :D
Best,

Dan Batko

"Where are we going and why am I in this basket?"
 
Voles

No shrews around here that I know of, but the cat's been dragging in a bunch of Voles. A critter like a fat mouse, but real stupid.
Cat drops the Vole, the Vole runs in a circle til it hits something. Then just sits still, like it thinks the cat can't see it. Then the cat gets another mouth full, and it starts all over again. Great entertainment out here in the country!

...Dave
 
A shrew used to be in the order insectivora but changed here a while back and is now classified in the soricomorpha (sp?). Rodents (mice, rats, squirrels, voles, etc) eat up everything esp any grain, corn you have lying around whereas shrews are primarily predators, at least in TX where I worked with them. No, shrews will not generally eat a rodent (it is documented but not common) but it will defend it's territory and doesn't back down. One cool tidbit about shrews.. they are actually venomous. It helps them collect as many insects as possible to eat.. they will envenomate a bug drag it to a pile then go for more and then set and eat a huge feast. They have to eat an extreme amount for their metabolism is out of this world.
 
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I'm the guy who started this thread.

I know a LITTLE about shrews. We have two cats. About early September, one of our cats caught a shrew and ran into the house with it.

Well, four or five hours later the shrew was still alive, running around. When the cats messed with it, it would come up with a very high pitched squeal.

Finally my wife captured it, wrapped it into a kitchen towel, and released it outside.

I was told that the cats COULD have killed the shrew, but would probably have been bitten in the process. The shrew would have drawn blood. Cats are lazy and like an easy prey like a mouse. So the cats were baiting it and fencing with it, but wary of really going in for a kill.

The shrew is plump and grey, and has a short tail about one inch long. It has a funny pink nose, and for a second you wonder if you have somehow gotten a mole. It is quite a bit bigger than a mouse -- several times the size of a house mouse.

I have nothing against shrews. I mean, I'm not going to try to extirminate them. Mice . . . . I really don't want to kill them off, but they get so out of hand in numbers I have to try to kill them back from time to time.

Do I want every house mouse on the planet dead? No.

I mean, take mosquitos or wood ticks. Yes, I would like to see them ALL gone. Mice -- no. Just whack back the numbers from time to time.

Search short-tailed shrew on the internet and you will find all you want.

BTW, shrews are supposedly capable of carrying rabies, so do not let one bite you. They are like bats in that regard.
 
My Cairn terrier would probably kill shrews, he seems to think that voles and rabbits are pretty much fun to chomp and shake. If it's still movin' it needs bit and shaken harder. Good boy, bite 'em again! :D
 
Shrew????

Montana Pete said:
The shrew is plump and grey, and has a short tail about one inch long. It has a funny pink nose, and for a second you wonder if you have somehow gotten a mole. It is quite a bit bigger than a mouse -- several times the size of a house mouse.
Click to expand...

If it's several times larger than a house mouse with a funny pink nose it ain't no shrew! Shrews are small and have a very pointed nose but it's not pink.
 
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