Do moles hibernate for winter12/13/2023 ![]() One study found that shrews cached approximately 87 percent of their captured prey. Shrews may move their alive-but-immobile prey back to a special live hoarding chamber. Unlike venomous snakes, whose hollow fangs contain the venom, these shrews instead have a submaxillary gland that produces venom, and grooves in their lower incisors that transmit that venom into prey, which becomes paralyzed within minutes of being bitten by a shrew. Northern short-tailed shrews ( Blaina brevicauda) have 32 teeth for chewing on invertebrates, plants, and small mammals. They are also the only venomous mammal in North America. “They basically attack anything that moves.” “Shrews are one of the most predacious small mammals, eating constantly,” said Dan Feller, an ecologist with Maryland’s Department of Natural Resources. Both moles and shrews maintain special underground chambers for storing live prisoners beneath the snow. Their diet comprises insects and other invertebrates, and they have mastered the art of keeping a fresh meal on hand at any time of the year. Among the latter group are shrews and moles. ![]() Others – like the squirrel searching for acorns – stock their winter larders and hope they have food to last until springtime. Some animals, of course, spend the cold, dark months of winter hibernating. What other animals, I wondered, were preparing for winter – and how? Both of us were preparing for harder days ahead – me for an upcoming hip replacement surgery, the squirrel for the approaching snowy season. In November, I was making soup to stock the freezer when I looked out my kitchen window and spotted a red squirrel rustling through the leaves in search of acorns. ![]()
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