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A
Guide to the: Forest Shrew - Myosorex varius
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The Forest
Shrew is one of the more widely distributed of the 15 species of shrew
found in southern Africa. It is also one of the most aggressive of these
little animals, with their tiny eyes and long, pointed snouts. Forest
shrews are named for their close association with forests, and similar
moist, densely vegetated environments. They are usually dark brown to
greyish-brown. Forest shrews are mainly nocturnal (although they can
be active for short periods throughout the day and night) and live in
dense foliage, and so are not encountered very often. They are burrowers,
although they usually only dig shallow tunnels under a rock, using their
front claws and snout. This tunnel forms part of its nest, which it
constructs with soft grass and lines with vegetable debris. Instead
of excavating its own tunnel, the forest shrew may be quite content
to appropriate the disused burrow of a molerat. During the day it spends
much of its time lying in its nest, venturing out for a few minutes
at a time to look for food or to defecate: these sorties away from the
safety of the nest last an hour or two. A nesting pair of forest shrews
will chatter intimately to each other. When alarmed or fighting a forest
shrew utters a sharp little squeak.
More facts about Forest Shrews
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