The Slimbridge Small Three - Water Shrew

There are 3 native mammals on display in the Back from the Brink building. The water shrews are the hardest to see. I have only seen them at quiet times in the morning - even so patience is required: this one dashed out of cover to get a mouthful of food from the feeder and then dashed back. It did the same thing at least 6 times, but it was so fast that this is the only acceptable photo I managed. February 17th 2012.

I think the photo is fine, for a photo of such a swift little critter as a shrew! I wonder how hard they are to keep in good health, given their prodigious appetites and frenetic lifestyle.

Chlidonias said:

I think the photo is fine, for a photo of such a swift little critter as a shrew! I wonder how hard they are to keep in good health, given their prodigious appetites and frenetic lifestyle.

Click to expand...

Thank you, I like the whiskers, because they are virtually impossible to see in the live animal, otherwise the photo is not too good.
Shrews are not that hard to keep in captivity, but they have particular requirements - I think there is dogfood in the dish (or coffee jar lid) and they are also given mealworms. I have just remembered that there is a description of keeping water shrews in Konrad Lorenz's book 'King Solomon's Ring', I must dig out my old copy.

Alan

Well done on being so persistent! I've got much the same expectation of seeing Pink-headed Duck or Auckland Island Merganser at Slimbridge as Water Shrew...