shrew

a kind of animal – mammal – {not a rodent} order “soricomorpha” – mostly nocturnal (= active at night) – insectivore (= feeds mostly on insects) – looks like (resembles) a mouse but related to the moles, a small soft body with short thick brown or grey, or both mixed fur, cone-shaped head with small eyes, big ears, long snout (= mouth and nose part), whiskers (= stiff hairs around the snout), short legs with five clawed toes, long tail in some species (kinds); size: (varies widely) on average, 3-4 inch long and weight:18-30 grams (the smallest (Etruscan shrew) 1½ inch in length and 2 grams in weight, and the largest (house shrew) 6 inches in length and 100 grams in weight); feeds on (eats) mostly insects, insect larvae, worms, and, some species, seeds, nuts and other plant matter; lives for 1-3 years; about 240 species, (but some authorities put the number at 376) found in most parts of the world except in Greenland, Australia, New Zealand, southern South America

Special Features:

This rat- or mouse-like animal is not a rodent; it belongs to a different ‘order’, and closely related to the moles, but not to the rats  or mice!

Some of the shrew species are the only mammals with a venomous (= poisonous) bite!

Though their bite is not as powerful as the snake’s, it can stun or paralyze or even kill insects and very small animals.

Some species of shrew find their food by ‘echolocation’, like the bats and whales!

The Etruscan shrew is the smallest mammal, competing with the ‘bumblebee bat’. Therefore, some authorities say that the Etruscan shrew is the smallest non-flying mammal in the world!

{Note: Not all animals with the name ‘shrew’ are “true shrews”.  For example, the ‘tree shrew’, ‘elephant shrew’, ‘shrew opossum’ and ‘African otter shrew’ are not closely related to the ‘true shrews’!}

Some authorities or animal experts are in the opinion that the vehicle of Lord Ganesh, one of the important gods, with an elephant’s head, in Hinduism, is the “shrew”, but not the ‘rat’ or ‘mouse’, as is believed by Hindus!(?)

“The Taming of the Shrew” is one of the famous plays (dramas) by the world famous English playwright (1564—1616) William Shakespeare.  In this play (drama), a proud, bad-tempered woman ‘the shrew’ is tamed by her husband!

Figures of Speech:

1.

shrew (noun)  =  a quarrelsome, bad-tempered woman – always quarrelling or nagging with harsh words and loud voice

2.

shrewd (adjective)  =  (of a person) quick-thinking; calculating; cunning

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