Evening star., 1932-06-22
BEHAY|0R0F SHREW
AND BAT OBSERVED
Formers Language Consists
of Three Sounds, and 1t
is Playful at Times.
BY THOMAS r. HENRY.

Detailed observations of the behavior
OF two of the most secretive American
animals-the shrew and the bat-have
Just been reported to the American So
ciety Of Mammalogists here.
The reports are considered of special
interest from the standpoint of animal
psychology. since both these families OF
mammals live in a quite different sem
sory world from that of the larger
warm blooded animals and man. The
behavior of ShrewS especially has been
little investigated because the animals
are so small and seeretive that they
seldom are seen in the wild state, and
they have disconcerting habit Of dying
for no known reason within few hours
after they are trapped.
BY taking special precautions, how
ever, DR.. Philip M. Blossom OF the Uni
versity of Michigan was able to keep
one alive in captivity for more than two
months and another for l3 days.
Have Three Types OF Sounds.
The Language Of the shrew, DR..
Blossom founo, consists of three dis
tinct types of sounds. When angry
they emit rapid series of Staccato
SqueakS. When eating or in search OF
food they utter q succession Of faint,
twittering notes, 80 soft and produced
so rapidly that they give the voice a
quality intermediate between a purr and
soft twitter" When the animal Is
resting a slow gritting of the teeth fire.
quently is heard.
He found a comparative insensitivity
to loud noises. such as the blast of an
automobile horn or the barking Of
dog close at hand, but an extreme SEN
sitivity to tones so low that they were
practically inaudible to the human ear
1,nc h ~ H.
jectS close at hand, but apparently its
range of vision is short, for when move
mer1ts are made few feet away 1t
shows no reaction. The sense of smell,
he concludes, also must be restricted
within short range.
Life is a serious matter to the sfrew,
who must keep almost continually on
the lookout for food. Yet, DR.. Blossom
found, there are times when 1t actually
plays. The male was once found push
ing the lid of the nest box up and
down with its nose. thus producing
rattle against the tin box below. An
other form of playfulness was shown in
the killing of an insect. When small
bug was placed in the cage the little
animal at once attacked 1t and terrific
struggle was simulated, in which the
insect repeatedly was attacked and
thrown in the air. The shrew evidently
was playing" that the helpless insect
really was a dangerous adversary, and
only after hard make-believe fight
was it finally killed and eaten.
The animals often were seen doing
during the day. While resting, Blossom
reports, the head is seen to lower little
by little until the creature apparently
becomes conscious that it is browsing.
Then the head is raised with a quick
jerk. After an inspection to see that
no danger Is about, the doing is re-
sumed, and this is repeated over and
over again until finally the animal. ap-
parently rested, continues its search for
food.
Meat Stored for Future.
The shrew, Blossom found, "stores
meat" for the future. "Earthworms
were most generally killed at once
when placed in the cage" he reports
''They were then distributed in advan-
tageous position, usually on or in damp
moss, and were returned to later when
the animal was in need of food They
may be left whole or cut into small
pieces. Undoubtedly they are preserved
and kept fresh by the moisture within
the vegetation"
Perhaps the most remarkable finding
was that the shrew ate an average Of
more than three times it's own weight
every "a hours, mostly meat. The
shrew has an average weight Of 36
grams. It ate an average Of lit
grams A large number of earthworms