The Pygmy Shrew (Dallóg Fhraoigh) -- : is Ireland's smallest 
mammal and it is the only shrew found here.  It is only half the length of a mouse and weighs less than a 10p coin. It length is on average about 92 mm, of which 38 mm is its tail. Its average weight is about 3.5 grams. This is about half the length and a quarter the weight of an average mouse. The Pygmy Shrew has velvet  like fur, is dark brown in colour and has a pink snout with long whiskers all around it. It has very poor eyesight and it hunts by smell and by touch. 
When looking for food it uses it's nose and feeds on grasshoppers, spiders
,worms, snails and woodlice. The Pygmy Shrew spends most of the day
searching for food and when hunting it often squeaks.

It is often found in long grass. It breeds from April to October and it lives 
for about 1 year. The Pygmy Shrew sleeps in grass nests and they hunt
in very small paths and tunnels in grass roots.

The male Pygmy Shrew has big stink glands and that keeps some 
animals away. The main area in Ireland to find the Pygmy Shrew is in 
the southwest. Some people say that the shrew can poison when he 
bites but this is not true.  However, the common and the pygmy shrew 
suffer from fleas. It belongs to the same family of animals as the mole 
and the hedgehog. It is often eaten by owls, foxes or larger mammals.
Tom  Healy
Third Class.

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