Traits: Very small mammal with a long, pointed nose; short legs; soft, dense fur; Alaska species have a long tail.

Habitat: Moist areas in forests, shrublands, wetlands, tundra

Foods: Springtails, beetles, fly larvae, centipedes, mites, worms, spiders, round worms, eggs and young of small ground nesting birds, young voles, carrion

Eaten by: Weasels, owls, kestrels, jaegers, shrikes

Do You Know? The shrews metabolism is so rapid that an individual shrew may eat its own weight in meat every three hours!