Rodent ID?

[tyrajam]

This is some interesting shrew talk, but it is not a shrew. It is a vole which is closely related moles. They occupy roughly the same niche as mice and are fodder for coyotes, foxes and owls.

I'll bet you dollars to donuts it is a shrew. It has the long, pointed snout of a shrew. Voles look more like mice and are bigger, sometimes its hard to tell from a pic, but it is a shrew. As far as filling the same niche, they voles will tear up your garden, while shrews will keep the little bugs at bay.

 

[LegatoRedrivers]

Except that if it's the Northern Short Tailed Shrew, which inhabits this part of the country, it is venomous.
Northern Short-tailed Shrew - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Err... How venomous? It did look a bit like the small one in the picture, and I think it nipped the dog on the nose.

That was several hours ago, though. The dog seems fine.

The shrew she got looks smaller than on that page, though.

Edit: read the wiki page. Considering Dogmeat's a 55 pound dog and the shrew couldn't have weighed more than an ounce, the dog should be fine.

 

[T4rdV4rk]

Random question. Do we have voles in IN?

 

[UncleMike]

Err... How venomous? It did look a bit like the small one in the picture, and I think it nipped the dog on the nose.

That was several hours ago, though. The dog seems fine.

The shrew she got looks smaller than on that page, though.

Edit: read the wiki page. Considering Dogmeat's a 55 pound dog and the shrew couldn't have weighed more than an ounce, the dog should be fine.

A shrew's venom is introduced into a wound by channels in it's teeth.
Kinda like a Gila Monster.
They usually have to get a good bite and work the venom in while they "chew" on the victim.
The venom is usually used on bugs, snails, or small rodents.
I don't believe they can do any appreciable damage to a decent sized dog or a human larger than an infant.
I still wouldn't play with one just to see what the effects would be.

 

[MRP2003]

I experienced something similar.I had just gotten back from the Army where I served overseas in korea and I had brought back a Korean dog called a Jindo and we were at the edge of the woods where I had grown up in PA when I noticed my dog moving his front paws back and forth and then he reared his head back slightly and slammed his snout right into the ground and pulled a mole out of the ground. The mole immediately started screaming. It gave me a shock. I never heard anything that small scream like that before.

 

[hammer24]

This is some interesting shrew talk, but it is not a shrew. It is a vole which is closely related moles. They occupy roughly the same niche as mice and are fodder for coyotes, foxes and owls.

Wrong. Look at a picture of a vole, they don't look like a shrew! Voles have short muzzles and look like very chubby mice.

shrew:

Random question. Do we have voles in IN?

Yes, we've got them.

 

[sonovasailor]

nice heart-lung shot! Oh, by the way. They don't taste like chicken.