[HN Gopher] A Mount Lyell shrew has just been photographed alive
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A Mount Lyell shrew has just been photographed alive
Author : nithinj
Score : 121 points
Date : 2025-02-02 01:32 UTC (4 days ago)
(HTM) web link (www.sfgate.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.sfgate.com)
| thih9 wrote:
| Mount Lyell shrew
|
| Image: https://metro.co.uk/wp-
| content/uploads/2025/01/SEI_236362254...
|
| Wikipedia: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Lyell_shrew
| spondylosaurus wrote:
| Cute little critter!
|
| Looking at that Wikipedia page, I didn't realize there were
| multiple "grading" systems for conservation risk. Interesting
| that two different systems have two different risk assessments
| for the same animal.
| Loughla wrote:
| Shrews are cute but MEAN.
|
| A few years ago we had a couple of feet of snow in a day. As
| I was snow blowing the driveway, I noticed all these little
| tunnels on the edge that was cut off by the side of the
| blower.
|
| Then I saw a tiny little animal. I thought he was a mole. So
| I took my glove off and picked him up, as a good hillbilly
| would do.
|
| That thing bit me like fifteen times up my thumb before I
| could react to yeet him across the yard.
|
| Lesson learned.
| tyre wrote:
| That doesn't sound mean. It sounds like you shouldn't pick
| up a wild animal.
| not2b wrote:
| The shrew had to assume you were going to eat it, and it
| did what it needed to do to escape.
| sixothree wrote:
| I think you cane safely assume he meant "fierce". Or you
| know, insist on strict semantic meaning.
| relwin wrote:
| Didn't you ever watch "The Killer Shrews"?
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Killer_Shrews
| lief79 wrote:
| I had a northern short tailed shrew running around my
| basement. After luckily live catching it (and getting the
| correct id), I also discovered that they are mildly
| venomous. Go figure.
|
| Wish it hadn't found a way into the house, as I would have
| liked to have it keep clearing pests out of my yard. It got
| dropped off else where quickly, after a snack.
| Dalewyn wrote:
| >Shrews are cute but MEAN.
|
| There is a reason that unpleasant women are called
| shrews[1], for example as in _The Taming of the Shrew_ [2].
|
| [1]: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shrew
|
| [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Taming_of_the_Shrew
| metalman wrote:
| Are these the same critters that squirls have been hunting
| and eating? Big thing about that with the squirls catching
| them, and killing them "with a bite to the neck" just like
| bigger preditors, and then chowing down.It was somewhere
| over California way, and there were researchers studying
| the systematic hunting by squirls, so these shrews days
| might be numbered, even after surviving extinction. I used
| to get $1 for a squirl tail when I was a kid, sold them at
| the store, and used the money for gas for boat and boxes of
| shells.....wonder what a shrew is worth:).kidding,
| kidding..ok half kidding....anybody actualy know?
| ethbr1 wrote:
| Fyi, squirrels
| brudgers wrote:
| The recent report was of some California squirrels eating
| voles.
| ornornor wrote:
| Well yeah imagine some giant noisy machine digging you out
| and then trying to pick you up most likely to eat you.
| pengaru wrote:
| You picked up a wild animal and it fought for its survival.
|
| That's not evidence of being mean but alive and interested
| in staying that way.
|
| I had a similar experience with a common squirrel that
| found its way into a friend's kitchen. It's a story about a
| stupid human treating a wild animal as his pet cat and
| getting holes in his hand in the process, not how squirrels
| are mean.
| corytheboyd wrote:
| Thank you! I have no patience for articles headlined with
| "Picture of rare <blank> taken!" that do not lead with the
| picture. If I want to read more about it, I will, but lead with
| the damn image. I know I know, the whole point is to show me
| ads, etc. Still gonna fart my fart into the wind I guess.
| danmur wrote:
| That picture at the beginning is a high quality troll, I
| spent ages looking at it before I read the caption: "The team
| set up traps in vegetation areas like this one to capture
| Mount Lyell shrews."
| skrebbel wrote:
| Seriously a title like that and it's not Bigfoot?
| giancarlostoro wrote:
| With the timeline we're in, it's only a matter of time?
| loganmarchione wrote:
| I want to believe
| maxweylandt wrote:
| Very well done, always nice to see non (not yet?) professional
| scientists contribute :)
|
| This reminds me I've been meaning to set up a moth trap.
| palmotea wrote:
| > The Mount Lyell shrew (Sorex lyelli) is 9 to 10 centimeters
| long and weighs between 2 and 3 grams, according to the
| researchers' measurements.
|
| That's got to be a typo...
| shpongled wrote:
| Probably 20-30 grams. Average lab mouse is around that weight
| and length [1]
|
| [1] https://www.jax.org/jax-mice-and-services/strain-data-
| sheet-...
| Finnucane wrote:
| The reason they're never seen alive is because they're actually
| balloon animals.
| s0rce wrote:
| Must be, a typical hummingbird weighs more than that (4g).
| hnburnsy wrote:
| No typo apparently...
|
| >Editor's note: This story was corrected at 12:15 p.m., Jan.
| 17, to clarify that the shrews weigh 2 to 3 grams, according to
| the researchers' measurements.
| natosaichek wrote:
| Wikipedia says:
|
| The shrew is between 8.9 and 10 centimetres (3.5 and 3.9 in)
| long[4] and weighs 4-5 grams (0.14-0.18 oz).[5] It has 32
| teeth.[4]
|
| Must be a mistake on both?!? No way its got less that 5 ccs of
| blood in a 9-10 cm long body.
| Someone wrote:
| > No way its got less that 5 ccs of blood in a 9-10 cm long
| body.
|
| Scaling that body up by a factor of 10 would get you 5 x 103
| = 5,000 ccs of blood in a 90-100 cm long body.
|
| That's 5 liter. We also have
| (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_volume) _"A typical
| adult has a blood volume of approximately 5 liters"_ , and
| the typical adult is quite a bit taller than 90-100 cm.
| mmsc wrote:
| Look up Etruscan shrew. They weigh less than 2g on avg.
| zombot wrote:
| Yup, they used civilized units instead of the usual feudal
| ones.
| rob74 wrote:
| According to other Wikipedia articles
| (https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sorex_lyelli), almost half of
| that length is the tail, so that might explain it. Also, I
| assume most of the "bulk" you see in the photos is fur (which a
| small mammal in a harsh climate needs a lot of for insulation).
| pipeline_peak wrote:
| A shrew that has been seen by few has now been seen by more...
|
| That should be the title, not god damn Big Foot level
| anticipation.
| thangalin wrote:
| "Shrewd mammal evaded photography for decades."
| crazydoggers wrote:
| Here's a video of the expedition:
|
| https://youtu.be/Jd2CdraSqt0?si=7xcYlM_GH4-1uw_k
|
| His channel has lots of other amazing videos documenting
| creatures, mostly cold blooded. The level of knowledge imparted
| is very high, not just another wildlife show. Definitely worth
| watching.
| rex_lupi wrote:
| came here to post this exact video!
| bawolff wrote:
| Based on the headline i assumed it was endangered but appearently
| not, its just difficult to photograph.
| brudgers wrote:
| Moose Peterson talks about "scientific level" wildlife
| photography in most of this presentation,
| https://youtu.be/QwfB2xQ0uVc?si=slhpQqeFGB1sBeEB
| lenerdenator wrote:
| I'm not an expert biologist by any means, but I do believe that
| this shrew - this critter, if you will - fulfills all the
| criteria of being just a little guy or girl.
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(page generated 2025-02-06 23:01 UTC)