Sunday, November 23, 2014

voles! er, I mean, shrews!

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I wrote this whole post, sure I'd seen voles.  But I thought it might be nice to link to something about them, and I discovered that what I've seen are shrews, not voles!  The sausage shape, the tiny ears, the very short tail....  All three of the ones I've seen were black or very dark gray.  Shrews, not voles. 

Who knew!

(Now I need to find out what the difference is, between mice and voles........)



Before this month, I'd seen exactly one vole, I mean shrew, in my whole life.  It was last year.  I was walking in the neighborhood, and stopped still for a minute (to take a pic, of course).  I heard a rustling at my feet, and then a snout poked out of the vegetation, followed by a head and shoulders....  I moved; it skittered; that was that.

Now, this month, I've seen two voles, I mean shrews, both completely out in the open.  One on the 16th, and one the day before.

Late afternoon walks.  The vole, I mean shrew, was running across the sidewalk, in one case, and over someone's driveway, in the other.

Cloudy days, dark-ish.  Far enough apart geographically (different sides of different blocks) that I don't think it can have been the same vole, I mean shrew, twice.

Don't you think that's odd?  To have basically never seen one before, and now see two in two days?

I wonder if it's just coincidence, or if we're having a vole, I mean SHREW,  invasion..............

I don't think I've ever seen a mouse out in the open like that.

I think seeing those voles, I mean SHREWS, out in the open was at least passing strange.  And that's the "Bizarre News From the Neighborhood" news.

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2 comments:

clayt666 said...

Try this to see the differences between moles, voles, and shrews.

http://www.jcehrlich.com/blog/differences-between-moles-voles-and-shrews/

I need orange said...

THanks!

The text is very useful. Too bad the pics aren't bigger.

Just wait -- I went to the University's Natural Science museum the same morning I wrote that post about voles, I mean, SHREWS. :-) I wasn't thinking particularly to look at 'em, but they have several displays on Michigan flora and fauna, including mice and SHREWS, and I happened to notice them that day. :-)

It was funny -- two other women were looking at the shrews at the same time I was, and one of them said "I have seen these! I thought they were voles!" I told her I had thought the same thing until that very morning.

On that day (last Thursday, the 20th), I also learned that muskrats are "giant aquatic voles." !!!

A post about my visit to the museum is coming.

Hooray for museums!!!!!!!!!