Eurasian water shrew
Water shrew ( Neomys fodiens ) ( Totfund )
The water shrew ( Neomys fodiens ) is one of three living in Europe and northern Asia species of water shrews of the family of shrews ( Soricidae ). To distinguish them from the other two species Neomys it is also known as Eurasian water shrew. They inhabited the shore areas natural water bodies in many parts of the Palaearctic.
Mark
The species is the largest shrew in Europe. The head-body length of 70-96 mm and tail length 47-77 mm. The animals weigh 15-20, rarely up to 25 g The coat is glossy black on the top, the bottom is variable silvery white to black-brown, often tinged rust- brown. The species is well adapted to life in the water. The coat is long and dense, the tail underside has a bristle over the entire length keel, which serves as a rudder and the hind feet have bristles that promote propulsion. The water shrew is one of the few venomous mammals of Central Europe. Produced by lying under the tongue poison gland secretion is lethal in animals to mouse size.
Dissemination
The distribution of water shrew includes large parts of the northern Palaearctic. It ranges in west-east direction of Britain and North-West Spain to the Amur and Sakhalin peninsula on the Pacific coast, in the north-south direction in the western part of the area from northern Norway to central Italy and northern Greece.
It is lacking in Europe in Iceland and Ireland, in the Iberian Peninsula south of the Pyrenees and on all islands in the Mediterranean and is limited in the rest of the Mediterranean and in South Eastern Europe to the mountains.
Habitat
The water shrew colonized natural riparian areas of waters of all kind, including, seashores, as well as marshes, wet woods and meadows to the north of its range even fields. The species occurs from the lowlands up to 2500 m altitude before.
Way of life
Water shrews are very good swimmers and divers. The diet consists of aquatic insects and their larvae, small crustaceans, snails, and small fish and frogs, which are captured mainly diving. The burrows are dug themselves or taken from other mammals and always have an exit to the water. The propagation takes place from April to September. A female has 2 to 3 litters a year that include 4 to 11 each boy. At birth, cubs weigh 0.6 g, the eyes open after 20 to 24 days and the suckling period is 38 to 40 days. The animals are maximum in the open about 18 months old.
Inventory and risk
The water shrew is in Germany "at risk" because of their close ties to natural waters and the threat to these habitats by river bank stabilization and intensification of use in the Red List as (Category 3) out. It is in Germany to be particularly protected species under protection. The world stock shall, according to IUCN as uncritical ( " least concern ").