Sorex cinereus

photo credit: www.mnh.si.edu

ID

  • Grayish brown upper parts with lighter underparts
  • Tail is bicolored with dark brownish gray on top and a yellowish brown on the bottom
  • Smaller and browner than the Smoky Shrew (Whitaker)

Distribution

Reproduction

  • Breeding occurs between early spring and early fall (Whitaker)
  • Gestation lasts about 18 days (Audubon)
  • Litter size numbers between 4 and 10 young
  • Females usually have 3 litters per year (Whitaker)

Behavior

  • Active all hours of the day, but more so at night
  • Do not hibernate
  • Use rodent runs and move beneath leaves, logs, and through moss runways (Whitaker)

Food Habits

  • Tiny mollusks, insects, especially ants, caterpillars, beetle grubs, slugs, snails, and spiders, annelids, dead bodies of larger animals
  • Plants eaten in dire need (Whitaker)

Size/Life Cycle

  • Average measurements: 71-111 mm (total length), 25-50 g (total weight) (Whitaker)

Predators

  • Owls, hawks, shrikes, herons, predatory mammals, some fish (Whitaker)

Habitat

  • Wide variety of environments as long as there is a good amount of moisture (Whitaker)