A very small animal is a shrew. A photo and description of how to deal with a pest by various methods in the country house, garden, in the garden - you will learn about all this from the information below. The main activity of this small active animal with a long nose, similar to a proboscis, is the digging of multiple moves in vegetable gardens and summer cottages. Another name for the animal is a shrew (it has dark-colored teeth) or a shrew (white teeth). These are representatives of two subfamilies of the family of shrews, but in fact there are approximately 300 species in nature. It is also often called a mouse shrew due to external similarities, although they are representatives of different orders (rodent and insectivore).
Who is a shrew?
To get food for itself, this insectivore is able to dig through half of the plot as soon as possible. The small animal (3-5 cm) is characterized by an enviable appetite and rapid metabolism.
For this reason, he is ready to eat always and everywhere, in search of food, an insatiable animal digs new and new passages, damaging the plants and their root system with their own moves.
Shrew - what does this thunderstorm look like? This is the smallest mammal in the world, outwardly similar to a small mouse with a long tail, which is somewhat thicker and denser than that of the same mouse. A distinctive feature of the animal is an elongated proboscis muzzle with a moving nose, which gives it a distant resemblance to an anteater or mole. The eyes of the shrew are small and dull, the ears are small, the fur is velvety, mostly gray. Vision is poorly developed, so the animal relies more on its sense of smell and hearing to find food. The ears of the animal have a special structure (the shrew has the ability to echolocation).
This is a shrew, photo:
The animal eats constantly, periodically interrupting for sleep. The amount of food absorbed by the shrew per day often exceeds the weight of the animal itself. The reality is that she will not be able to live more than 8-9 hours without food in the summer, in winter - no more than 3 hours.
The activity of the shrew on the site brings dubious benefits. Of course, she eats a large number of insects, including pests. But the medal has two sides - in the search for this insect, it can easily destroy the appearance of your lawn and harm the root system of garden crops.
What does a shrew eat? She likes various insects: bears, weevils, beetles, spiders, rags and nutcrackers, leaf beetles. She also does not ignore worms and slugs, as well as all kinds of larvae, wood lice, caterpillars. However, she also will not refuse seeds and grains.
It is noteworthy that severe hunger can turn an insectivorous mammal into a real predator. In the fight for prey, a shrew can fight with its fellow tribesmen, mice or lizards.
Where does the shrew live? In forests, on the banks of reservoirs, in meadows, in foliage and last year’s grass. She especially likes secluded crevices of trees or rotten hollows where you can sleep sweetly during the day.
Basically, this insectivore prefers to "work" at night. Geographically, a shrew inhabits the entire globe, the only exception is the polar regions where the cold reigns - there it can be found very rarely. But in fact - this beast is not afraid of either heat or cold.
Shrew - how to deal with it?
The enemy needs to know in person, so you should be completely sure that your site was visited by shrews. The best option is to see the “guest” with your own eyes, but since the animal goes hunting mainly at night, you need to try to catch the moment.
It is important not to confuse the traces of the activity of a shrew and a mole, or, for example, a field mouse. Since it is small in size, minks on the surface of the soil will also be very small. If you notice that someone feasted on the roots of plants or root crops in your garden, then look for a pest among other representatives. Our beast prefers insects, and the root system of vegetable or horticultural crops can only be accidentally damaged by digging.
How to get rid of a shrew in the garden - mechanical and chemical methods
- The first thing that comes to mind is poisons and chemicals, but here you need to be very careful. These drugs can harm your pets, and at the same time you, because in the garden you grow not only ornamental plants, but also fruit, garden crops that will be eaten. The most effective means are: The Nutcracker, Hunter Antigryzun, Rat Death (a very strong poison that causes painful death in a mammal). You can also try scattering baits of the Inta-Vir or Antikrot type near minks.
- The most humane way of catching shrews is pipe traps, they are also called live traps. It is necessary to find the mink (stroke) of the animal and insert a trap of a suitable size into it, on both sides of such a pipe there should be doors (dampers) that work only on the "entrance". Thus, making his way along, a shrew mouse will push the shutter with his nose and enter the pipe, but he will not be able to exit.
- Modern ultrasonic repellers will help you get rid of not only shrews, but also other rodents. On the relevant forums you can read a lot of good reviews about the OZV.02 Tornado repeller.
- A shrew mouse can be bought on a bait in a mousetrap or in another device of a similar type. As a bait, its usual diet is used - worms, slugs, insects. There are also many good reviews about the SuperCat Vole Trap trap, which was originally designed to catch moles, but works well with field mice and shrews.
How to deal with shrew folk remedies
People go to various tricks to drive this voracious guest from their site. Some methods are quite original and, at first glance, cast doubt on their effectiveness. However, it is not in vain that gardeners advise each other certain methods that have been known for decades. As practice shows, they really work, I will give here a few examples.
Shrew - control methods:
- As mentioned above, this animal has an enviable sense of smell. If you find the animal's mink, try right there (in the progress made) to dig in the fish heads or entrails extracted when cleaning the fish. After a short time, the smell of decomposition will drive the shrew out of the area. This method is also good in the fight against moles and mole rats.
- If you have a vigilant cat, then it can also become a good helper in the fight against pest. A small animal really looks like a mouse, and in a cat hunter it will cause a very expected reaction. According to the reviews of summer residents, cats do a good job with this mission, although they do not eat prey afterwards. The reason for this is the characteristic smell secreted by the musky glands of the shrew.
- Water from the hose, which is poured into the detected moves of the pest. Sometimes quite a lot of liters of water may be needed, but this is an old proven method that allows you to "pour" a shrew out of cover.
- Torokhtushki or windmills - iron rods are driven into the ground, to which empty tin cans or empty plastic bottles are tied. From the wind, they move and make quite a loud noise. Vibration comes from the rod, and this is not to the liking of shrews, loud noise is similar.
Shrew, photo:
You can also combine business with pleasure and plant black brow (marigolds), king lily, peas or beans - the animal does not like the smell of these plants. According to experienced gardeners, no traces of the pest were found in a radius of 3 meters near a lily or bush of marigolds. There are good reviews about the Grouse imperial plant; its flavor is also not to the liking of the shrew.
Of course, modern chemical and mechanical pest control agents can be more effective, but time-tested methods will also serve you well. Choose the method that you prefer.
Tip: although the animal looks pretty cute, it’s better not to pick it up. If you will take a shrew from a livestock, then put on garden or construction gloves first. Her bite is very painful, and biting her who caught it costs nothing!
Now you know who the shrew is, a photo and description, how to fight, what drugs to use and how to protect your site.