Insectivores (Shrews, Moles, etc.)

The hedgehog is unmistakable, being the UK’s only spined mammal. In general it is various shades of brown with slightly protruding black eyes and a fairly long snout. Variations in colour are seen but leucistic (blonde or white with black eyes), albinos and melanistic forms are very rarely observed.

The spines can be moved under muscular control, which enables the hedgehog to curl up when alarmed. Underneath, hedgehogs have a soft whitish belly/skirt which they can raise as they run off at around two to six miles per hour. They can swim, climb two metre structures when foraging, grunt and snuffle when mating and squeal when attacked. They have sensitive, set-back ears for detecting prey and an acute sense of smell but their eyesight is not good.  

Moles have short black velvety fur, with spadelike forelimbs that have large claws facing towards the animal’s rear. They have very small eyes and a pink fleshy snout.  

The common shrew has a three-tone coat; a dark brown velvety back, paler brown flanks and a yellowish-grey underside. Its tail length is about 55% of its head and body length. Some individuals can show white patches on the ear tufts or tail tip. Tiny eyes offer poor eyesight so it relies on smell, sound and touch to detect prey using its narrow, pointed mobile snout and whiskers. Red iron deposits in the enamel of the tips of its needle-like teeth slow down wear that results from feeding on abrasive insect exoskeletons and soil-covered earthworms. Signs of wear of the red coating are seen in older animals.

The smaller pygmy shrew has a longer, thicker tail in proportion to its body size and length, paler body fur and no colour band along the flanks. The larger water shrew has black dorsal fur and hair fringes on the feet and tail.  

The pygmy shrew has a two-tone coat of greyish-brown on the back (paler than in the common shrew) and greyish-white on the underside. It is the smallest terrestrial mammal species in Britain. Its tail is long (70% of its body length) and thicker and hairier than that of the common shrew. With tiny eyes it relies on smell, sound and long whiskers to detect prey. As in the common shrew the needle-like teeth are red-tipped and it is able to decrease its body size in winter to reduce energy requirement.

In comparison the common shrew is larger with a darker three-tone coat and a shorter tail, although there can be some overlap in the weight of juvenile common shrews and large adult pygmy shrews.

The water shrew is the largest of our three native shrew species. It has a two-tone coat of black on the back and white on the underside, sometimes with a yellow or brown ‘stain’. Melanistic forms with a dark underside regularly occur and white ear tufts and/or eyebrows are common. The fur, which is longer and denser than in terrestrial shrews, traps air, giving a silvery sheen to the body when swimming under water. The long tail has a keel of long, stiff, silvery hairs on the underside which increases the surface area and acts like a rudder during swimming. The toes are also fringed with hairs enabling all four feet to be used as paddles.

With tiny eyes, it relies on its long whiskers and mobile snout to detect prey under water, often searching through gravel and silt on the river bed. As in the common shrew the needle-like teeth are red-tipped and it is able to decrease its body size in winter to reduce energy requirement.

Common and pygmy shrews are smaller than water shrews with paler dorsal fur. They lack the fringes of hairs on the tail and feet.