Cats are very skilful hunters and are always trying to improve their hunting skills. Shrews are a popular object for training their velvet paws – owners of outdoor activities often find a dead shrew in their garden. But while house mice usually eat, the shrews remain untouched. Why is this so?
Shrews comprise more than 350 species worldwide, but they are only distantly related to mice. Some shrew species are already extinct, others are considered endangered. But don’t worry, the small mammals your cat cat catches usually belong to the garden, field or house shrews, which are quite common.
Shrew: Small pest controller
Unlike mice, shrews are not rodents but carnivores. Insects, larvae and earthworms usually determine the diet of the small mammals, which are closely related to the mole and hedgehog. Occasionally a small vertebrate also lands on their plate. There are species that even eat voles, toads and small snakes twice their size.
Unlike mice, shrews are considered relatively useful animals, as they also control pests. There are no tame specimens of the small mammals that are suitable for keeping pets – this also distinguishes them from rodents.
Cats catch shrews, but do not eat them
Shrews are loners and have a rapid metabolism. Therefore they are constantly looking for food and seduce attentive cats to hunt with their fast movements. As soon as the shrew is caught, the fur nose notices that it does not like it at all. This is due to the musky secretion that shrews secrete to mark their territory.
For the sensitive cat’s nose and gourmet cat’s palate, the smell and taste of this secretion are unpleasant – so for practice purposes, it plays with its prey for a while and then leaves it lying around. Or she brings them as a gift to her favourite people.
Cat ate shrew: Is it poisonous?
Only water shrews and swamp shrews have poison glands. Garden shrews and other species that are easily accessible to your cat are not poisonous. Even if cats should accidentally meet a water or marsh shrew, there is no danger to their lives.
Although a shrew bite is painful and paralyses small mammals and frogs, cats are usually big enough to get away without permanent damage. So you don’t need to worry if your velvet paw puts a freshly killed shrew on your doormat.
