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common_natureYesterday I got to see a tiny shrew very close-up and it was very exciting.
So I was sitting on a muddy path in a wooded area because of reasons (ok, exhausted after climbing) when I saw movement and a tiny thing scurrying past me. I figured that glimpse was all I'd see, but I turned round to see where it'd gone and it was on the path on the other side of me, and with great caution so as not to startle it I managed to dig my phone out of my coat pocket:
(There's nothing to give a sense of scale, but the shrew is a few centimetres long. It makes mice look big.)
THEN --
I was able to lean in closer, because the shrew had found an earthworm on the path and was thoroughly occupied, because apparently if you have to eat every 2-3 hours to survive you don't give a shit about the large inedible mammal looming in your direction:
At this point, I am lying on the muddy path with my arm stretched out, trying to get the phone as close as possible to the shrew without frightening it off. This is probably one reason why the photos are blurry, but the other is that shrews are in constant veryveryfast motion. Nonetheless, this is the best shot I got of how its snout wiggles around like an anteater's:
Ultimate close-up:
For reference, this is what a shrew looks like without the motion blur:
Shrew photo courtesy of the RSPB
So I was sitting on a muddy path in a wooded area because of reasons (ok, exhausted after climbing) when I saw movement and a tiny thing scurrying past me. I figured that glimpse was all I'd see, but I turned round to see where it'd gone and it was on the path on the other side of me, and with great caution so as not to startle it I managed to dig my phone out of my coat pocket:
(There's nothing to give a sense of scale, but the shrew is a few centimetres long. It makes mice look big.)
THEN --
I was able to lean in closer, because the shrew had found an earthworm on the path and was thoroughly occupied, because apparently if you have to eat every 2-3 hours to survive you don't give a shit about the large inedible mammal looming in your direction:
At this point, I am lying on the muddy path with my arm stretched out, trying to get the phone as close as possible to the shrew without frightening it off. This is probably one reason why the photos are blurry, but the other is that shrews are in constant veryveryfast motion. Nonetheless, this is the best shot I got of how its snout wiggles around like an anteater's:
Ultimate close-up:
For reference, this is what a shrew looks like without the motion blur:
Shrew photo courtesy of the RSPB
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Date: 2017-07-22 12:49 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2017-07-22 04:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-07-22 05:23 pm (UTC)(I'm a terrible photographer; I rely on clicking the button a lot and hoping that come out semi-decent through random chance.)
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Date: 2017-07-22 05:14 pm (UTC)Heh, thanks for your efforts, I've not seen one before I don't think!
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Date: 2017-07-22 08:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-07-23 10:36 am (UTC)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Killer_Shrews
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Date: 2017-07-23 10:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-07-23 12:31 am (UTC)I'm also amazed THAT you just got right down on the ground to take the photos. That's some awesome dedication.
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Date: 2017-07-23 08:38 am (UTC)I know, I wondered if maybe it was very young and/or very hungry. Or maybe the fact that I was sitting down to begin with meant that I wasn't a threat, because it thought I couldn't suddenly lunge at it or tread on it?
I'm also amazed THAT you just got right down on the ground to take the photos. That's some awesome dedication.
*g* See comment above. I was already fairly grubby anyway, and that plus tiredness had led to my state of "ah fuck it I'll just sit on the path". So OH HELL YES I was going to stretch myself out as flat as I could and try to get the phone as close to the shrew as possible, given the chance of CLOSE-UP SHREW PHOTOS OMG.
Wow!
Date: 2017-07-23 05:31 am (UTC)Re: Wow!
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Date: 2017-07-23 10:24 pm (UTC)The taming of the shrew!
It's super cute, thank you for the pictures.
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Date: 2017-07-24 09:30 am (UTC)Ha!
No, ferocious untamed tiny predator! Nature red in tooth and tiny wiggly snout!
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Date: 2017-07-25 12:50 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-07-28 06:02 pm (UTC)Indeed!
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