The Etruscan Shrew (Suncus etruscus ) which is about 1.5” in length and weighs 0.07oz is the smallest living terrestrial mammal.
The Etruscan shrew’s heart beats 1,511 times a minute; faster even than a Blue-throated hummingbird’s (1,260).
Shrews are easily startled and will jump, faint, or drop dead at a sudden noise.
Shrew venom is not conducted into the wound by fangs, but by grooves in the teeth.
Shrews have poorly developed eyesight, but have exceptional senses of smell and touch.
Cats will kill shrews, but usually will not eat them because of the foul-tasting glands in the shrew’s skin which give the shrew an unpleasant smell.
Shrews are aggressive and territorial. A new shrew will be killed within a few hours of being placed in a cage with an already established shrew. A pair of shrews simultaneously introduced into a cage will take less than 4 months before one kills the other.
The word “shrew” comes from the Old English form of the word was screawa, or shrew-mouse. The Middle English form was shrewe, meaning an evil, ill-tempered, or scolding person (usually female); most familiar use is Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew.