The water shrew appears on the trail camera every day, often just a glimpse as it dashes to and fro.
This short clip shows how frenetic its life is.
The recent lack of rain means there is no water flow so there is a film on the water and the shrew ends up looking a bit scruffy. It has no difficulty in finding things to eat right at the water's edge. At the end of the next video the shrew has caught a spider and seems to be biting it without eating it - perhaps to disable it with a venomous bite to save it for later.
The last video shows a visit from a cousin - a common shrew (Sorex araneus). It has a good look round but, unlike the recent wood mouse, it does not appear to steal from the larder, perhaps because there was nothing left. The video gives the opportunity to compare the two shrews. The common shrew is smaller and slimmer with pointier nose and a proportionately shorter tail. In infrared light it just looks paler but in daylight it would have tri-colour brown/cream colouration compared with the water shrew's black and white. Notice a water scorpion (Nepa cinerea) in the water as the shrew passes. It was lucky this was a common shrew and not the water shrew.
That was a good spot, Chris! The water scorpion.
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