How to tenderize a mouse, mole, vole, shrew

Buster

Buster and Felix are my bookends. Twins, they often share toys, but not food.

They shared a catnip ball with my hospice client's cat, Wanda, who was quite excited about it. She slept with her head on it, like a pillow!

Wanda was named for her late aunt,
who is also memorialized by a tattoo!

Felix, the smaller of the two, eats first. Buster seems to be the hunter and the tree climber. He'll eat later.

Felix

I thought, at first, Felix had a mouse, probably not a  deer mouse. I looked more closely and thought: a mole. With a bit more research I found it is a shrew, or shrew mouse (family Soricidae).

Shrews are related more closely to mice than voles.

Read more: American Least Shrew: Soricidae, cryptotis parva.

The mole is mainly a carnivore, whereas the vole is a primarily a vegetarian. Shrews are not picky eaters. While insects and other invertebrates (animals without backbones) make up the bulk of their diet, they will also eat fruit and seeds, as well as small mammals, lizards, frogs, and even other shrews if food is scarce.

My kittens are omnivores. They'll eat anything!



For more Camera Critters, #184!