# Has anyone ever had to deal with shrews indoors? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 5, 2006, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-had-to-deal-with-shrews-indoors/382904 "2006-12-05T03:45:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Marlitharn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/779978/32.png) [@Marlitharn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marlitharn)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2006, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-had-to-deal-with-shrews-indoors/382904/1 "2006-12-05T03:45:00Z")
Because it seems my workplace has become infested with them. One of them was sitting on my co-worker’s shoe, she heard a noise, looked down, and started screaming, while the poor little thing skittered in a panicky way all over the floor and under the door. It’s come back 3 times since then, working its way along the wall and across the room. Meanwhile my two co-workers are squatting in their chairs and refusing to let their feet touch the floor. I googled for information; Sherbert (we’re calling him Sherbert) looks just like [this](http://www.gotpetsonline.com/pictures-gallery/small-animal-pictures-breeders-babies/shrew-pictures-breeders-babies/pictures/shrew-0001.jpg). And I did not know that shrews were venemous. I probably shouldn’t have read that part to my crew, that caused them to freak out even worse. 😃 I think he’s cute, but I’ve never heard of them coming inside. Does anyone have any experience with this kind of thing? ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2006, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-had-to-deal-with-shrews-indoors/382904/2 "2006-12-05T03:56:33Z")
Good Lord, I came into this thread expecting a rant about bitchy co-workers. :eek: If I saw one of those things under my SHOE, I think I’d be content to call it a rat and get the hell out of Dodge! ::shudder:: ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2006, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-had-to-deal-with-shrews-indoors/382904/3 "2006-12-05T04:13:06Z")
Wow, I’ve never even seen a shrew, let alone had one come to the office. Where do you live? What could be in your office that a shrew is into? High speed internet? ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2006, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-had-to-deal-with-shrews-indoors/382904/4 "2006-12-05T04:48:23Z")
If that’s not a rat, it will do until you get one. ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2006, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-had-to-deal-with-shrews-indoors/382904/5 "2006-12-05T05:02:28Z")
Oh dear. On my Board I posted in great detail of several encounters we had with shrews who decided to invade the house. They are fairly harmless critters, although they are a pest when in the house, as they’ll eat and shit and possibly carry parasites/etc. The absolute saddest thing about them is that they will indeed die of fright if you catch them, or sometimes if you just bother them too much (or at least the short-tailed ones we had would). They will squeak piteously, shake and tremble, then just…stop. ☹ We had 5 shrews in the house and only managed to catch and release 3 without them dying of fright, as careful as we were. If you care about small wild animals, please be painfully careful trying to catch them, as the slightest upset could leave you with a pathetic scene of a small creature crying out then dying. If not, then, well, just about anything will kill them. ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2006, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-had-to-deal-with-shrews-indoors/382904/6 "2006-12-05T05:06:29Z")
Actually, we’re 50/50 for them, as there was a shrew number 6 found dead in the sump pump. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2006, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-had-to-deal-with-shrews-indoors/382904/7 "2006-12-05T05:25:33Z")
_Must… not… make… joke…_ ---
**Author:** ![Savannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2006, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-had-to-deal-with-shrews-indoors/382904/8 "2006-12-05T05:36:34Z")
Your office needs A Cat. ---
**Author:** ![Enginerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bcef8e/32.png) [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2006, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-had-to-deal-with-shrews-indoors/382904/9 "2006-12-05T05:48:27Z")
Shrews make less-than-durable dog toys. Dog toys that require significantly more cleanup than I prefer. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2006, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-had-to-deal-with-shrews-indoors/382904/10 "2006-12-05T06:14:14Z")
Batista and Petruchio? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2006, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-had-to-deal-with-shrews-indoors/382904/11 "2006-12-05T07:18:54Z")
[QUOTE=Shoshana] _Must… not… make… joke…_ [/QUOTE] I was so tempted to come in here and say “Sure, all the time. My wife!” even though I don’t have a wife. That’s how good the set-up is. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2006, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-had-to-deal-with-shrews-indoors/382904/12 "2006-12-05T09:30:04Z")
I’ve heard that you can tame them… ---
**Author:** ![Marlitharn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/779978/32.png) [@Marlitharn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marlitharn)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2006, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-had-to-deal-with-shrews-indoors/382904/13 "2006-12-05T12:59:19Z")
He **charged** at me! I was walking towards the paper shredder and he came pelting straight at me! Ballsy little thing. I read that they sometimes gang up on their prey, I’m lucky he didn’t have four or five friends with him or I’d’ve been toast. Our maintenance guy is supposed to commence Opewation: Kill the Shwew-ew sometime today. I’ll miss them. It was funny watching my co-workers scream like little girls. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2006, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-had-to-deal-with-shrews-indoors/382904/14 "2006-12-05T13:02:54Z")
Someone beat me to the Shaksepreare reference, so I’ll have to say the guys in **The Killer Shrews**. They had a really hard time of it, too: > **[The Killer Shrews (1959) ⭐ 4.1 | Horror, Sci-Fi](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052969/)** > > 1h 9m | Approved ---
**Author:** ![Lissla\_Lissar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lissla\_Lissar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissla_Lissar)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2006, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-had-to-deal-with-shrews-indoors/382904/15 "2006-12-05T13:38:59Z")
They’re so cute. Someone caught one up at summer camp once: it wandered into a chip bag. Didn’t die of fright. Little and fuzzy and cuddly-looking. I wouldn’t want them in my house, though. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_chao_goes_mu/32/3191_2.png) [@The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Chao_Goes_Mu)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2006, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-had-to-deal-with-shrews-indoors/382904/16 "2006-12-05T13:53:14Z")
Dammit, **Sage Rat** , you beat me to it. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2006, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-had-to-deal-with-shrews-indoors/382904/17 "2006-12-05T14:13:51Z")
[QUOTE=Una Persson] On my Board I posted in great detail of several encounters we had with shrews who decided to invade the house. [/QUOTE] So has Charlie Sheen. 😛😃 ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2006, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-had-to-deal-with-shrews-indoors/382904/18 "2006-12-05T14:14:04Z")
Cuddly they may look to us, but shrews are probably the most ferocious mammalian predators. Here’s three sites with more info: A general description, mentioning their fierceness: [http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu/inhsreports/jan-feb99/shrew.html](http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu/inhsreports/jan-feb99/shrew.html) A more detailed story about how aggressive they can be, even in taking on larger animals: [http://www.mdc.mo.gov/kids/out-in/1998/3/3.html](http://www.mdc.mo.gov/kids/out-in/1998/3/3.html) And finally, the entire Shrew Shrine: > **[The Shrew (ist's) Site](http://members.chello.at/natura/shrew/index.html)** > > A contribution to promote the investigation of the biology of shrews (Soricidae, Insectivora, Mammalia): Forum, Bibliography, Shrew Photo Gallery, Shrewists on E-mail, Announcements, Current Inquiries, Links It’s technical, but there’s a page on myths and stories. Sailboat ---
**Author:** ![Lissla\_Lissar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lissla\_Lissar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissla_Lissar)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2006, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-had-to-deal-with-shrews-indoors/382904/19 "2006-12-05T15:50:57Z")
Oh, I know they’re vicious, but that doesn’t mean they don’t look cute. ---
**Author:** ![ASAKMOTSD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/919ad9/32.png) [@ASAKMOTSD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASAKMOTSD)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2006, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-had-to-deal-with-shrews-indoors/382904/20 "2006-12-05T16:02:46Z")
We prefer to call them “clients”… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-had-to-deal-with-shrews-indoors/382904.md?page=2)