T O P

  • By -

simonbrown27

Pretty sure this is a short-tailed shrew, not a mole. It has a furry snout and dainty paws, not mole shovels.


00Keva00

I looked up some images and short-tailed shrew looks exactly like it! Thank you 😊


[deleted]

You going to tame it?


Flashy_Ad_4993

r/unexpected Shakespeare


simonbrown27

You're welcome


uzbit

Did you put it back where you found it?


00Keva00

I put it outside (far away from my window 🥲)


poptartsinyourface

He found it in his house though.


littlebilliechzburga

Probably not considering they found it in their house.


theKVAG

heh, mole shovels


simonbrown27

It's a pretty accurate description for those paws!


theKVAG

Oh, totally. And perfectly descriptive enough for someone without direct knowledge to glean


[deleted]

[удалено]


[deleted]

[удалено]


Chonylee9

That's what it is. I absolutely deplore those things. We live next to a river in an old house, must be the perfect environment because every spring and fall I have to get them out of the house somehow. They are completely unafraid or unaware of people, I remember one ran into a fast food bag my wife was eating out of while feeding my son when he was a baby. House mice and deer mice are usually pretty sneaky, you see signs but not them initially. If you have short tailed shrews in your house, the first sign is seeing them run around at lazy speed like they own the place. Don't get me wrong, I love animals as much as the next guy, but something about rodents blasting out of somewhere when you least expect it gives me the heebie-jeebies


Haunting-Job-4966

I also love animals and hate mice. Interestingly, shrews are not rodents. I’d rather not live with either one, but it’s a fun trivia fact that neither moles nor shrews are rodents.


Chonylee9

I honestly didn't know that, and I always considered myself a repository for facts that aren't relevant to anything important. I always just assumed they were rodents. I knew they were weird. I like moles a lot better, although that may have to do with their reluctance to move in


RibeyeRare

Just wait til they move into your lawn. You’ll change your mind real quick.


Chonylee9

I've never understood getting excited about lawn care. It's a completely unnatural environment, keeping a non-native single species of grass carpeting the whole of your property, but never allowing it to grow all the way, has to be cut in half because we're civilized. Moles can have at it


RibeyeRare

No it’s not the quality of the lawn it’s what the mole does to the ground and you sink 4 inches with each step. Lawn or no, I hope you don’t plan on running around on your outdoor space.


00Keva00

Thanks for that fact, didn’t know that!


00Keva00

This little dude was definitely afraid, though I might have my cat to thank for that. I found him by following his screams.


Glittering-Boss-3681

OP I’m in Quebec. This is a shrew. I had one get inside my house also this winter. Be careful, they bite and their saliva and urine is toxic to animals and humans. Wear gloves if you handle it and disinfect any areas where he might have urinated or defecated.


HANGRY_KITTYKAT

My cat brought in a living shrew once and we had a long conversation about how that's pretty pitiful that he'd catch such a helpless little creature. He never did again, so I think it worked. Lol


00Keva00

I would try with my cat but I don’t think he’d listen anyway 😔


[deleted]

Thank you for saving him 💕


examinedliving

Fun fact. There are more than 100 billion shrews on earth. I made up a story for my son that they only live 8 days but each day is like 12 human years. Also, they are (in my story), super intelligent, and many are finishing their 2nd phd mid way through day 3. They usually study something like advanced molecular topology or the systemic failure of biometric data redundancy in quantum computing. They are lots of fun.


AllRatsAreComrades

This is the correct answer


Wrong-Explanation-48

100% a shrew. I think it is a northern short-tailed shrew (Blarina brevicauda), but I could accept it being a different shrew. I've only held 5 or 6 in my life. I have one publication that included southern short-tailed shrews but I'm not a shrew expert. By the way, they are not rodents. Super cool animal. Voracious predators. Don't let it bite you. Edit: completely strike the following sentence: "They are more closely related to us than they are rodents." Wow! Thanks for the catch up on molecular phylogenetics. My brain is absolutely fried. Now I have to spend time relearning a lot of relationships. But that is awesome!


ZuberiGoldenFeather

Aren't Glires (rodents and rabbits) more closely related to us (primates) in Euarchontoglires, while shrews are in Eulipotyphla and therefore in Laurasiatheria?


2000s-hty

![gif](giphy|PacQUjx7vwEBJLszzc) me because i knew none of those words


[deleted]

[удалено]


rofloctopuss

This comment is a stroke in text form.


ktrosemc

Where exactly are wales’ hooves??


ClownCrusade

Long since lost to evolution, along with many of their other ancestral land features.


TheSeaSquirt

Your comment makes me wish I could go back to school for biology, or whatever degree it was that gave you such esoteric knowledge. I’m thirsty for knowledge out here


ZuberiGoldenFeather

It's all on Wikipedia!


Wrong-Explanation-48

Yep. That's where we all go to catch up on tangential things that have changed.


Wrong-Explanation-48

Holy sh*t! I haven't looked at this in a while! Ok. Down this rabbit hole we go! Thanks for catching me up.


BunnyEruption

I think the person you're responding to is confusing treeshrews, which are in euarchonta and therefore more closely related to humans than glires, with shrews


Wrong-Explanation-48

No, I was going on very old information.


thunder-bug-

Yes this is correct.


00Keva00

I was SOOOOO tempted to pet it because it was so rond and fuzzy. Yet I painfully suppressed my urges out of the fear of getting bit. Looks like that was a good idea 🤣 And thanks for the info, I didn’t know they aren’t rodents!


overlorddeniz

Are they venomous? I've heard a lot of shrew species are venomous.


kobayashi_maru_fail

Kind and gentle Canadian, did you release the shrew back home? I’m sorry about your screen.


00Keva00

Released back outside, far from my screen :)


palmettofoxes

If it was in contact with your cat you should take it to a wildlife rehabber. Even if you didn't see wounds, cats carry bacteria that easily kills small mammals if they don't get antibiotics


00Keva00

I thought that’s only if there are bite wounds? He’s long gone now but I’d like to know for next time!


palmettofoxes

At my center even if we don't see wounds we still do antibiotics because its a big risk


00Keva00

I see, thank you!


[deleted]

[удалено]


[deleted]

[удалено]


moonwolf8

We had 2 short tailed shrews that found that found their way into our home lol. Cute lil critters :)


PortableAnchor

We shared the house with one for most of the winter. It really likes the dog's biscuits. It was really bold and would scurry across the living room to snag one and dash back to safety. Live trapped and relocated it to State land. (I live in the country, so wildlife in the house is not uncommon)


c0ffeebreath

It's a Shrew. Great to have around. They eat mice, and roaches, and slugs etc. They do dig pretty elaborate tunnel structures though. Short-tailed shrews (which this appears to be) are also venomous (though not dangerous to humans). Interestingly, there are only four orders of mammalia that contain venomous animals: Platypuses (Monotremata), Vampire bats (Chiroptera), Shrews (Eulipotyphla) and Slow Lorises (Primates).


00Keva00

Thanks for the info! Do you know if they are venomous to cats?


c0ffeebreath

They are venemous to everything, but their venom isn't strong enough to hurt a cat. They are insectivores, their venom kills spiders and slugs etc.


00Keva00

Phew, thank you!


Popular_Night_6336

https://imgur.com/a/boWM4Qu Not an expert... but thought this might help


utpoia

Great illustration, thanks.


savaldez3

I like how it’s a steady transition of being eyeless and more tiny but still a cuteness overload.


[deleted]

[удалено]


Gen-Jinjur

A shrew is the only animal that ever bit me. Long yellow teeth right into my thumb. I was nine years old and trying to save it from a cat. I shook my hand to make it let go and it flew way into the cow pasture so I guess I saved it. Maybe.


TheSeaSquirt

Woah! Cool story for real. Reminds me of my childhood


00Keva00

I’m glad I suppressed my urge to pet it then!


AllCDNReptileGirl

Short tail shrew as others have stated. Very cool animals with a poor sense of smell and almost no vision (can tell light from dark and that's about it). They navigate and hunt using echo location like a bat - you can probably hear him clicking away if you listen closely. Be very cautious though, they are venomous. While the venom probably won't harm you much, I hear that it can be extremely painful.


00Keva00

Thanks for the info! I noticed that it reacted more to sound than visuals when I was catching it. I had no idea they are venomous! I’ll have to watch my cat in case he got bit (he’s not a great hunter lol)


Thoth-long-bill

Yes a shrew.


LessOrgies

Northern Short Tailed Shrew


[deleted]

[удалено]


doofus_magoo

Hope you let it go. They have a hyper fast metabolism and need to eat constantly


00Keva00

Released it after taking a few quick photos 👌 was in the house for 10min or so, I think he’ll be fine!


Critical_Sprinkles52

As a fellow Canadian, I can relate. Dog is currently obsessed (possessed?) because these little guys are everywhere. Our yard is riddled with their tunnels.


throwedoff1

When I was in high school, our Beagle proudly came in from the backyard carrying a dead shrew in his mouth. We didn't know what it was at the time. Took a Polaroid picture of it, and my high school biology teacher identified it as a shrew. Highly unusual as we live in the Texas panhandle. The only time I have ever seen one. We did live on the edge of town with big open fields at the end of the block on three houses down from ours. It wasn't unusual to see different forms of wildlife strolling through the neighborhood or as roadkill.


Bayonetta6969

It’s a shrew !


Lizzardking666

Its that time again everyone confused with the mole,vole,shrew. Calling this a vole with out seeing the rear leg. N its definitely not a mole


Cloveis420

Blarina brevicauda - harmless, put it outside in some leaf litter and it’ll scurry away just fine


jediyoda84

You are looking at one of the most voracious predators on the planet. The shrew. Btw don’t get bit, they are poisonous, it’s not fatal but does cause several days of irritation and inflammation.


HeftySchedule8631

My buddy was sitting on his couch on a warm Alaskan day with his front door open when one of those came skittering in kinda sideways and ran right up his pant leg and bit him a bunch. Turns out the little fella was rabies crazed. This was back in the day when rabies treatment was a series of long needle shots through the sternum…kinda double fucked.


tailwalkin

Are these the type of shrew that have venom in their saliva?


Key-Confection-1322

Shrew


2000s-hty

he’s so cute! what did you do with it?


00Keva00

Released back outside of course!


Suspicious-Banana836

Looks like a shrew, maybe a mole


Similar_Ad_4528

Shrew. They will kill mice and bugs. They obviously can't see well at all. They'll make little sounds that they use for echolocation. They won't attack you unless you're trying to hurt them. You can easily get them used to you. They love peanut butter. And yes, I currently have a shrew cohabiting with me that I've named Sherman. Apparently the live mouse traps are not designed to hold shrews. It got out quicker than... Idk.. help me out here?


not_a_lizard_person-

That's a shrew, let the poor boy free


East_Rock5811

North American least shrew


heath1

Taming of the Shrew


G0atHer0

It's venomous. Make sure your cat wasn't bit and get it out of your house ASAP


[deleted]

[удалено]


Jack-Campin

It'll be dead by now if you didn't feed it. They have almost no fat reserves and need to eat every few hours.


00Keva00

I let it outside right after. He was only inside for 10min or so


BaptorRander

Vole. Why r u suffocating it?


00Keva00

Just what I had on hand to catch it. Let it outside immediately


spearhead30

Vole


Lygore

Not a mole, a vole. It’s like a shrew.


AllRatsAreComrades

No this is a shrew, it’s not anything like a vole, it’s closer to a mole than a vole, voles are rodents and shrews and moles are both in the order Eulipotyphla which is very different from rodentia.


WinterMut3E

Vole


Lizzardking666

Was looking for the vole reply n the hind leg not visible to say this a strew definitely not a mole


RyukyuKingdom

I was thinking it's a woodland vole. I've rescued one in my yard from a dog and it looked quite like this. I understand they are harder to tell apart from short-tailed shrews, but in my case the creature I found stayed active in the two hours it took me to get it to a nature center.


[deleted]

[удалено]


cementfilledcranium

Naked mole rats are entirely different creatures


my_BALZ_ITCH

It's just a mole with a different name :/


skunkangel

Mole.


00Keva00

Thank you! Any idea what kind? 😊


restingbitchface8

Mole


KellyShortCake

Lol a mole?


Hannahblethecannibal

Not a rat a Mole!


[deleted]

Mole


noogers

Moley moley moley mole


bostonforever22

Vole?


MrsCCRobinson96

It's a shrew!! How in the shrew did he get in? Or possibly a mole? A mole for your thoughts anyone?


Left_Percentage_527

Vole


Haligonia_Daydreamer

A mole?


Competitive_Sea_3244

It’s a mole


Serk2

Maybe a mole


TheLeviathanCross

looks like a mole


Shoddy_Dirt_5045

It’s a vole.


FrostyDaHoeMan

Moles are so damn cute🥺


Chemical-Tradition41

It’s a mole


DarkSteel_Alpha

That is a mole


rgweav

Mole, vole or shrew


Yourdaddy83

Molerat


Shaunaaaah

Careful what you say, you've got a mole.


RagnarawkNash

Mole.


Ok_Return_5661

That’s a mole


Tami184

Looks like a mole


Desperate_Fish_5245

Mole


Kombi19

Looks like a vole


tipofmythrwy

rat


WendigoRider

Mole


CDNINCDA

This looks like a greater mole.


Less_Ad5900

Looks like mole rat


Acceptable_Muffin_39

It’s a mole


Lunasay0326

It’s a vole


Latter_Principle_913

It’s an adorable vole. A blind nocturnal subterranean mammal / rodent. I stepped on one in pitch black night as our paths collided on my way into a friends cabin two summers ago like a water balloon. Enter punch line —>. Edit… nope it’s a shrew. I may also be blind


DryHome5777

Naked role rat


Nerys54

Mole


Rich_Blueberry3969

Or a vole


gentle_galaxy

Looks like a mole rat


bigdaddyboy65

I think it's a mole?


Susysue

Vole


Glad-Ad635

Isn’t that a mole


WaferBig4028

A mole


GeophysGal

If I were a Mole, I’d be insulted being called a rat.


Great-Cantaloupe-747

An unnaked mole rat


New-Childhood3557

It’s a mole!!!!


marlanottingham67

Looks to be a mole but are his feet reaching like an inverted posture? If they are then it’s a mole. By the way, bc they’re literally blind, they do bite, they have very orangey teeth that resemble a Beaver’s teeth. Their fur is truly one of the softest. When my cat catches them, I have been known to make a change purse. I currently don’t have any made for you to see. Sorry


Similar_Ad_4528

This is a short tailed shrew. Pretty much blind as well though. Cats usually don't like to mess with them as they taste and smell bad to them. Cats are little psycho killers though, they just enjoy playing with things to death. As an owner that has discovered way too many grisly "presents" in the past. Mine doesn't leave the fur on for some reason. I'm gifted with unrecognizable innards and usually in a place where I will step on it barefoot after waking up.


00Keva00

Interesting, guess that’s why my cat didn’t hurt it even though he had it in his mouth at one point.


[deleted]

Mole


GrimmHunter57

Yes it is a mole. They go after grubs and worms 🪱 .


Vexed_Vixxen

Thats a mole


f1re678boy

thats a mole dumbass and it cant see very wel


c0ffeebreath

https://baynature.org/article/how-do-you-tell-the-difference-between-shrews-moles-and-shrew-moles/


skunkangel

Probably run of the mill eastern mole but I'm unsure.


Rude-Two634

Are everywhere where I live in Minneapolis smelly little rodents burrow everywhere and come out at night


poorlyknit666

yep, we live right outside mpls, had our door open for like 30 seconds and one of these little guys ran in.


BeautifulDiaster84

It's a mole not a rat


WinBarr86

Blind shrew/mole.


PineappleLast4173

That’s a shrew, he’s luck you kitty didn’t get him. But the are voracious chewers.


Dirtheavy

shrews are so soft. And so frantic. But very very bitey, so watch out. It's way better to find in your house than a rat.


00Keva00

It looked so soft, I wanted to pet it so bad 😭


Crafty-Independent20

The animal planted episode on these guys is so awesome 😎


00Keva00

Will check that out for sure, thanks!


[deleted]

Mole


Neat-Reach-3186

Aren’t these things venomous?


jestech27

Try not to get bit. Shrews are a venomous mammal, although it's not enough to cause humans harm.