Smoky Shrew

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The mountain species of shrew found from southeastern Canada west to the Great Lakes and south to the Smokies is known as the Smoky Shrew.  Mainly nocturnal, the smoky shrew is active day and night and has a head and body that grows up to three inches in length.  They are found in cool moist and shady birch or hemlock forests that have lots of leaf and fern growth.
The smoky shrew has brown fur in the summer and gray fur in the winter months. They have lighter gray under parts and a long tail that is brown on top and yellow underneath.

They eat leaf litter, insects, earthworms, centipedes, millipedes, snails and salamanders.  Because they travel in tunnels and runways created by moles and voles in search of their prey, they have a tendency to eat more worms than most shrews. 

The nest of the smoky shrew is the size of a baseball, created out of grasses and leaves about twenty inches below ground, in stumps and logs.  Adult females have two to three litters per year with five to six young in each litter.  Young leave the nest after about a month.  Most adults don't survive their second winter which is why juveniles are usually the only ones found in the wintertime.  This highly aggressive shrew only has a lifespan of 14-17 months.

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Smoky Shrew