Pygmy Shrew Sorex minutus

Identification features

• Narrow pointy snout with obvious whiskers
• Inconspicous ears
• Tail length is more than 50% of the length of the body and head
• Brown coloured fur all over the body which has a two-toned colour (mid-brown back, paler underside)
• Domed head

Pygmy shrews can be found in almost any habitat with sufficient vegetation cover, most commonly in hedgerows, scrub, grassland and deciduous woodland.

Comparison of Common shrew (top) and Pygmy shrew skins
Note the relatively longer tail of the Pygmy shrew

Other identification clues

Skulls

Pygmy shrew bones can be recorded in owl pellets. Like all Derbyshire species of shrews, they have red tips to the teeth.

Status in Derbyshire information

Photos: Steve Lonsdale