Their fur shows that moles and shrews are mammals. They belong to the group of insectivores, or insect eaters. Their sharp teeth can easily cut through the hard coverings of insects.
Moles catch insects and worms underground. They dig tunnels to find them. Shrews catch most of the insects and other small animals they eat aboveground. Moles are not often seen, because they stay underground all the time. Shrews are not often seen either. During the daytime they hide in cracks in rocks and under logs or leaves. They do most of their hunting after dark. People who do see them often mistake them for field mice.
Both moles and shrews are very energetic. Both, therefore, need a great deal of food. A mole will eat its own weight every day. A shrew eats two or three times its weight in a day. Even so, moles and shrews do not eat great piles of food, for they are small animals. A mole is about six inches long. Most shrews are four inches or so long—smaller than mice. The pygmy shrews are the smallest of all mammals. The smallest of the pygmy shrews is only two inches long and weighs only about as much as a dime. This tiny bundle of energy breathes more than 800 times a minute.
A mole is very well fitted for living underground. Its big front feet are excellent shovels. Its long, sharp claws are also a help in digging. Its thick furkeeps out water well. Its nose is very sensitive. The star-nosed mole, as the picture shows, has a queer tip on its nose.
An animal does not have to be big to be fierce. Shrews are bloodthirsty little animals. They sometimes kill one another.
Moles ruin lawns by digging their tunnels. In a single night a mole may dig a tunnel 100 yards long. But moles and shrews help us by eating harmful insects.
