Pygmy shrew

Scientific name: Sorex minutus

The pygmy shrew is a tiny mammal with greyish brown fur above and off-white fur below. They are found throughout mainland Britain and Ireland, as well as the Isle of Man and Outer Hebrides where the common shrew is absent.

Taxonomy chart

Animalia - Chordata - Mammalia - Eulipotyphla - Soricidae - Sorex - Sorex minutus

Conservation status: UK Red List

GB: Least Concern

England: Least Concern

Scotland: Least Concern

Wales: Least Concern

Global: Least Concern

Species information

Habitat: Urban & gardens, deciduous woodland, grassland, mixed woodland, arable land.

Description: A very small mammal with markedly pointed snout. As in the common shrew, the fur is greyish brown (dirty white ventrally), but the pygmy shrew is smaller and has a proportionately longer and thicker tail.

Size: 40-60 mm; tail 32-46 mm

Weight: 2.4-6.1g. Weight may decrease up to 28% in winter.

Lifespan: Peak mortality is at 2-4 months and the maximum lifespan is around 13 months.

Origin and distribution

Widespread throughout the mainland of Britain and Ireland, in most terrestrial habitats which offer sufficient ground cover. They are also found on the Isle of Man and Outer Hebrides, where common shrews are absent. Pygmy shrews are active day and night, largely above ground. They make and use “surface tunnels” in vegetation and will frequent burrows dug by other animals. They seem to be relatively more common on moorland than are common shrews.

Diet

They feed mainly on insects, arachnids and woodlice, requiring regular meals and eating up to 125% of their body weight in food daily. Unlike common shrews, they rarely eat earthworms.

General ecology

As in all shrews, senses of smell, hearing and touch are well-developed. Pygmy shrews are solitary and aggressive towards conspecifics. Home ranges vary from around 500-2000 square metres, depending on habitat, with maximum densities of around 12 per hectare. Strict territoriality is only abandoned during the breeding season.

Breeding

Pygmy shrews overwinter as immatures and breed between April and October, producing two or three litters of 5-7 young. Their main predators are owls and other avian predators, particularly those which hunt on moorland.

Conservation status

Shrews are protected under the 1981 Wildlife & Countryside Act. As with all shrews, they may be trapped only under licence. In any trapping study on small mammals, care is necessary to avoid killing shrews, which are extremely susceptible to death by starvation due to their small size and correspondingly high metabolic rate. Traps should be provided with suitable food (e.g. mealworms, meat) and/or visited at least every 2 hours. The main habitat requirements are vegetation cover and invertebrate food.

Identification

Medium brown/grey fur on top and dirty white underneath. Long pointed snout with small ears and very small eyes. Tiny size of 4-6cm and a tail length of 3-4cm, smaller than the common shrew. Tail length 70% of head and body length.

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General fact sheet

Confusion species

Common shrew (Sorex araneus)

Larger size than pygmy shrew. Tri-coloured coat; dark back, paler sides and even paler underside, as opposed to two-tone coat of pygmy. If you get a closer look: tail proportionately shorter than pygmy and less domed head.

Water shrew (Neomys Fodiens)

Much larger species than common shrew. Black fur on top with contrasting pale (often white) underside. Often has small white patches on ears. If you get a closer look: prominent keel of stiff, silvery hairs on underside of tail, not present in common shrew.