Shrews and Moles of British Columbia

Small and cryptic, shrews and moles represent some of the most obscure and least familiar of any British Columbian mammals. Rarely observed by the general public or naturalists, human encounters are typically limited to kills brought in by the family cat or a dead animal found by chance. Despite the new focus on small mammals in biodiversity studies by provincial wildlife and forestry agencies, only a few of the province’ s shrews or moles have received any detailed study— a contrast with the effort directed at other small mammals. Much remains to be learned about their distribution, habitat requirements, breeding biology and taxonomy in the province. This book will stimulate more attention for these much-neglected mammals.

Nick Panter is a retired biologist and an active volunteer at the Royal British Columbia Museum. He has worked preparing specimens and managing museum mammal collections starting at the University of Alberta, where he first became interested in shrews, and continuing at the Royal British Columbia Museum. He collaborated in small mammal research with David Nagorsen and others over a period of 25 years. This work was mainly focused on the shrews of British Columbia and has resulted in a series of scientific publications and government reports. David W. Nagorsen is a research associate at the Royal British Columbia Museum and the Royal Ontario Museum. He has more than 30 years' experience as a mammalogist' carrying out research, fieldwork, endangered species conservation, public education, and environmental assessments as a museum biologist and wildlife consultant. His interest in shrews and moles began in the early 1970s while working on a small mammal population study. He has authored or co-authored five handbooks on the province’s mammals and many scientific papers and reports.

Preface Introduction Origins and Classification Taxonomy and Nomenclature Checklist of BC Moles and Shrews Shrews and Moles in BC General Biology Form and Function Food Habits Habitat and Community Ecology Reproduction, Development of the Young, and Longevity Conserving Energy and Winter Survival Relations With Humans Conservation and Threats Studying Shrews and Moles Identifying Shrews and Moles Identification Key To Live Animals in the Hand Identification Key to Cranial/Dental Traits Species Accounts American Shrew-mole Coast Mole Townsend’ s Mole Arctic Shrew Pacific Water Shrew Cinereus Shrew Western Pygmy Shrew Merriam’ s Shrew Western Water Shrew Dusky Shrew Pacific Shrew American Water Shrew Preble’ s Shrew Olympic Shrew Trowbridge’ s Shrew Tundra Shrew Vagrant Shrew Hypothetical Species Prairie Shrew Holarctic Least Shrew Acknowledgements Appendix 1. Other Species Referred to in Text Appendix 2. External Traits to Identify Shrews Glossary References