Blarina brevicauda

Short-tailed shrew, Blarina brevicauda Carcass ... 

Short tail shrew, Blarina brevicauda-, kidney 39 FW vs. 1 FW 170... 

Short-tailed shrew, Blarina brevicauda 7.8 Gy, single acute exposure Cow, Bos sp. LD50, 30 days postexposure 1... 

Kita, M., Nakamura, Y., Okumura, Y., et al. (2004). Blarinatoxin, a mammalian lethal venom from the short-tailed shrew, Blarina brevicauda isolation and characterization. Proceedings oftheNational Academy of Science oftheUSA 101,7542-7547. 

Common shrew, Sorex araneus, 27, 92, 552 Short-tailed shrew, Blarina brevicauda, 387 Sorex spp., 27, 92, 552, 585 Skunk... 

Plethodon cinereus (salamander) Blarina brevicauda Peromyscus leucopus... 

Pearson, O.P. 1944. Reproduction in the shrew Blarina brevicauda. Amer. J. Anat., 75 39—93. 

Platt, W.J. 1976. The social organization and territoriality of short-tailed shrew Blarina brevicauda) populations in old-field habitats. Anim. Behav., 24 305—318. 

It may be hypothesized that the odor of shrews, moles and moonrats is a deterrent to some mammalian predators. Scott and Klimstra (1955), for example, concluded that moles (Scalopus aquaticus) and short-tailed shrews (Blarina brevicauda) were low on the scale of red fox food preferences because captured insectivores were often left uneaten. Shrews release a strong musky scent when disturbed (see Dryden and Conaway, 1967), but the role of scent as an anti-predator ploy is unknown. The deterrent effect of the shrew s scent does not appear to operate until the animal is captured and killed, and so it may be argued that the odor does not prevent predation, On the other hand, prudent predators" may learn to avoid hunting prey which are not edible. Challenging experiments will be required to determine whether red foxes and other carnivores become conditioned to modify their search image for insectivore prey such as moles and shrews. 

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