SHORT-TAILED SHREW

also called American Mole Shrew (Blarina brevicauda), medium-sized North American shrew, belonging to the shrew family, Soricidae (order Insectivora). Its robust grayish brown body is about 10 cm (4 inches) long, and its tail is about 3 cm. The eyes are small and beadlike, and the ears are so tiny as to be almost invisible. The short-tailed shrew inhabits the forests and grasslands of eastern North America. Active year-round, it is one of the most voracious eaters in the animal world. It preys upon invertebrates and various small vertebrates, immobilizing victims with a venomous bite from a toxin contained in its salivary glands. These shrews also eat plant material.