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Friday, September 16, 2016

Friday's Hunt v 2.12

Again, it's Friday!  This week has gone super fast! But, regardless of speed, it's time for Friday's Hunt, hosted by Eden Hills. As usual, there are 3 topics for today: Starts with L, Week's Favourite, and Critter.

Starts with L
Here is a Lovely Landscape shot that I took today at the Sackville Waterfowl Park.  The trees are still mostly green but you can see hints of yellow.  The temperatures are getting lower at night these days, almost dipping to the freezing point.  Soon the fall foliage will be in its glory.  Also there is a Lake in the picture.

Because she is the herd queen, and demands her proper publicity level, and because her name starts with L, here is Lucky Nickel.  (By the way, she is also a Critter!)

Week's Favourite
My little chipmunk friend, having a rest in the sun.  (Yep, also a Critter!)

Critter
Usually I post cute, cuddly critters, like my goats and sheep, or birds (and I already posted two of those!).  For the critter category, I'm posting something a little different.  This critter is a shrew. There are quite a few shrew species in Canada and it's difficult to tell them apart unless you're an expert, which I'm not.  The only thing I can tell you for sure about this shrew is that it's dead.  I turned it over so that it would be more like it looks when it's alive.  It is most likely the Masked Shrew, or Cinereous Shrew (Sorex cinereus) simply because that is the most common species.

Unfortunately, our cats seem to kill shrews more than any other animal.  I have seen a few dead voles, and the odd dead mouse, and I've never seen them with a dead bird.  However, I have seen a LOT of dead shrews.  We try to keep both cats in at night - Izzy is an outdoor cat in general due to her problems with the concept of the litter box, but we try to keep her in the garage at night - but we aren't always successful.  You can identify a shrew by its very long, pointy nose and its lack of cute round ears, such as you see on mice.  They have very tiny eyes.

I don't know why the cats seem to favour shrews.  Are they easier to catch?  I have no idea.  Cats won't eat shrews because they emit an unpleasant smell that cats don't like. Poor little shrews.  I quite like shrews because they are insectivores and eat lots of bugs that might otherwise damage my plants. I wish that the cats would leave the shrews alone.


9 comments:

Tom said...

Lot's of critters Claire, the chipmunk is my favorite. Have a great week and throw another blanket on the bed.

Jim said...

Thank you, Claire, for showing us the Shrew. I'd never ever seen one, it wasn't in my personal animal kingdom. I knew about the "Taming of the shrew" but that shrew was a person. Now that I know they are animals, I have a hard time putting them into Shakespeare's work.
..

Su-sieee! Mac said...

I cannot recall ever seeing a shrew, in real life or in pictures. But, I must've. I'm too old not to, but the only shrew I can think of is The Taming of the Shrew.

Jackie McGuinness said...

Yuck, thank God when we had cats they only caught mice!

I prefer your other critters!

Unknown said...

Herd Queens do demand publicity don't they! My cats seem to catch a lot of shrews also, not sure the point since they won't eat them.

Anonymous said...

Hail to the herd queen! She's lovely--another L! Cute chipmunk. I've never seen a shrew, and apparently, not even a picture of one. I feel much smarter today. :)

Anu said...

Great photos! Have a nice week!

Anonymous said...

I love all those L's you found! What an easy letter! ;-) Lucky Nickel is such a lovely diva! It's nice to see her back at home with you. I had laugh at the shrews. My cats, unfortunately, decided to try and eliminate the entire seven-lined ground squirrel population. Sigh... I haven't convinced them Snickers that they are our friends and we don't eat our friends. Thanks so much for joining me for Friday's Hunt. I hope you have a great week!

Linda said...

Lovely goat! I didn't realize shrews are cute.