Northern Short-Tailed Shrew (Blarina brevicauda)
Northern Short-Tailed Shrew ranges from the Great Lakes to the Atlantic, spending a short, frenetic life underground or in leaf litter, foraging for food in frantic bursts, then sleeping much of the day, though not hibernating. Their pulse may peak at a thousand beats per minute! The only venomous US mammal, this mouse- sized omnivore prefers insects, worms, rodents, and other shrews, voraciously consumes 2-3 times its body weight daily, and often paralyzes prey to eat alive later. Almost blind with a poor sense of smell, it survives by bat-like clicks (sonar echolocation), a fine sense of touch, and foul muskiness repellent to some predators. Most survive just a year, but the species is flourishing, not at risk.
Resources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_short-tailed_shrew (Blarina brevicauda)
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=10156087229795930 Nat Geographic Animals (3/16/2018)
https://www.simplybirding.com/mammals/northern-short-tailed-shrew-blarina-brevicauda/
What do you love about this particular creature?
What do they reveal to you about God and our faith?
Hardly an adorable cartoon character for Disney, this critter does not deserve its repulsive image in the sci-fi thriller Killer Shrews(1959) or in Shakespeare’s legendary Taming of the Shrew(1590), which seems unfairly to have fixed the misogynistic epithet for all time. [Shrewd, surprisingly, isn’t usually derogatory.] Nature does not deal in such pejorative connotation. The biosphere, of course, requires roughly an equal number of male shrews, much like their mates in manner and temperament. [Did a pair really board Noah’s ark?] Creation displays inscrutable diversity, which limited mortals can only conjecture as sometimes a sense of imagination or horror or even humor. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are my ways your ways,” says the Lord.
Author - John Lemly
John Lemly, retired Mount Holyoke College English teacher, rambles through forests around Arlington, MA, not having ever knowingly seen a shrew, unless maybe mistaking one for a mouse.
God, creator of all, we know you have made everything beautiful in its time, have set eternity in our hearts, yet we cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. The tiny mystery of the short-tailed shrew looms beyond us. Thank you for the unfathomable wonder of the world we are but a part of. Bless us along with the shrews scurrying unseen through woods nearby and bless all thy creation everywhere. Help us to cherish and protect it; forgive us when we fail to love it and you as we ought. And may our thanks and praise continue with your mercy and justice, flowing like a mighty stream. Amen.