Our office receives numerous calls in the late summer and early fall for a little gray, short tailed creature that resembles a mouse. It is there that the similarities end. The shrew is neither a mouse, nor is it a rodent.
Shrews are more closely related to the mole and weasel.
They are mammals and insectivores, eating a wide assortment of insects in adult and larvae form plus a lot more. The shrew has the highest rate of metabolism of any known vertebrate. It is said it must consume up to 3 times its weight each day to survive and must still eat more to put on enough fat to survive the winter. Shrews have a a toxin in their salivary glands that enable it to subdue larger prey than themselves. Salamanders, small snakes, frogs and even mice are possible prey at times.