Had to throw out the corpse of a short-tailed shrew on the path by my house, I'm so sure the victim of a cat that hangs out in our front yard all the time. I've been posting around local groups to see if the cat is lost, but they look healthy so I suspect they're not. Wish I could find their people so I could yell at them.

I was reading about shrews recently which is why I recognized it for what it was, they're absolutely fascinating little creatures. They're not rodents, they're actually in the same order as moles and hedgehogs (eulipotyphla), and they are voracious carnivores. Not only do they eat insects, their favourite food appears to be voles, and they even eat other shrews!

And their weirdest trait? They're toxic. One of the very few toxic mammals! Their saliva contains a paralytic which can kill small animals and, though it won't seriously harm a human, apparently hurts like hell if they bite you.

Odd, fascinating creatures who don't deserve to be killed and left mostly uneaten by a cat that should be kept contained.