Posted by Bill Baerg on September 24, 2005

Q: apon picking up dried out algae piles along our irrigation pond a few weeks ago, I suddenly noticed three young mouse-like critters. They were at least twice as large as baby mice, eyes still closed, head was almost 3/4 nose, fur was a purple/dark and quite thick. Is it possible to identify the species ?

Habitat: pond/lake

State: British Columbia

Habitat: pond/lake

A: From your description, it sounds to me that you've found some baby shrews. There are several species that live in your area so I'll list them for you. These guys are often difficult to ID from each other but this will give you an idea of the possibilities. Water Shrew (Sorex palustris), Pigmy Shrew (Sorex hoyi), Cinereus Shrew (Sorex cinereus), Montane Shrew (Sorex monticolus),and Vagrant Shrew (Sorex vagrans)all live in southeastern British Columbia.

I realize I may be confusing the issue but as you can see, there is no single species I can point to although if you want, knowing you have shrews may be enough.

Shrews are NOT rodents so don't confuse them with mice and rats. These extremely active mammals need to eat lots of insects, slugs, snails, centipedes plus amphibians, even mice, and some seeds to fuel their bodies.

Hope this helps.

John Wiessinger ( September 25, 2005)