Sometimes small animals can bring very big problems. This statement is applicable, in particular, to a shrew - a miniature mammal weighing only 10 g, which in search of food causes severe damage to garden plots, roots and root crops of plants.
Who are the shrews and what methods to deal with them in the garden, we will look into this article.
Did you know? Shrews bring not only harm, but also benefit - they destroy insects that are harmful to agriculture and forestry.
What does a shrew look like
Very often a shrew is confused with a field mouse. And she, indeed, is somewhat similar to her in appearance. However, it has a number of differences. In addition, they are not even relatives. After all, mice are rodents, and shrews are insectivorous mammals.
If you are interested in what a shrew looks like, then the body length of this mammal reaches 10 cm. It has a large head and an elongated facial section. Her nose resembles a proboscis - this is what makes the shrew different from the mouse. Her paws are short. The fur is short, soft, thick. The tail is long. 
Did you know? The shrew's brain is 1/10 of its body weight. This is more than a man and a dolphin.If we talk about the distribution of shrews on the Earth and its habitat, it is easier to list in which countries and on which continents it does not exist. These animals do not live in the polar regions, in North America, New Guinea, New Zealand, Australia. They can be found in almost all landscapes: in the forests, in the swamps, in the mountains, in the meadows, along the banks of rivers.
Live shrew in a hole. He is practically in constant search of provisions and sleeps very little. Since her metabolism is very fast, these animals are omnivorous. From what a shrew eats, she most often uses insects and earthworms.
Did you know? Every day, the shrew needs to consume 1.5-2 times more food than its own body weight..Small shrew species can die without food after 6-9 hours. To search for food, they allocate a plot of several tens of square meters. Such areas are clearly divided between each shrew, if one wanders to the “hunting ground” of the other, they will have to fight.
Shrews reproduce once or twice a year. Females lead from 4 to 14 pups. The maximum duration of the animal's life is 18 months. From the places where shrews live most often, one should name the burrows that they pry out on their own, the burrows of other animals, the emptiness of stumps, tree trunks, under the deadwood, human constructions.
More than 350 species of shrews are known, which are combined into 24 genera and 3 subfamilies: white-toothed shrew, shrew, mouse white shrew. In our area, the common and tiny shrew; the dwarf shrew is most common.
Owls, predatory birds of prey feed on shrews. They can also be killed by foxes, cats, dogs, confused with mice, but they do not eat shrews, they are frightened off by the unpleasant smell of a mammal.
Harm from shrew
So, we studied the question: the shrew is who. Now consider the methods of how to deal with it in the garden. And immediately note that, given the benefits that the shrew brings, to destroy it is necessary only in extreme cases, it is better to give preference to frightening methods.
The main troubles that the shrew delivers to cottagers and gardeners are these are numerous passages in the soil dug in search of food, holes in the ground in the garden, dug piles of earth on the surface. At the same time she gnaws all the roots and roots, which are found on the road. For example, a beautiful lawn in a few days can turn into many piles of earth, lumps.
To get rid of shrews use these methods:
- mechanical;
- electromechanical;
- chemical.
Electromechanical methods fighting shrew lies in scaring animals with electrical and electromechanical devices.
With the chemical method To exterminate the pest use pesticides and food with poison. 
Setting traps
Shrews can be caught using mouse or rat traps placed in the garden. In this case, the bait should serve as worms, larvae.
Also use the SuperCat Vole Trap trap, which is placed directly in the hole.
Scaring Shrews by Pungent Smell
Shrews do not see well, this problem is compensated by an excellent sense of smell. It is this which helps a mammal to look for food. This can be used and buried in the soil where the animal usually moves, something with an unpleasant odor, such as fish heads or entrails. When the fish begins to decompose, it will emit a stench that can scare away both shrews and moles from the garden. This is one of the most effective and safe ways to deal with a shrew in the garden.
There is information that these pests do not like the smell of beans, lentils, peas, milkweed. Therefore, these plants should be planted around the perimeter of the garden.
Another method of scaring is to bury rags dipped in gasoline, tar and kerosene around the garden.
Important! The method of scaring with the help of an unpleasant smell will have only a short-term effect.
Help dogs and cats in the fight with shrew
Despite the fact that dogs and cats are not eaten by shrews (they do not tolerate their smell), they nevertheless catch them, often confusing them with ordinary mice. Therefore, animals can be released at night in the garden - it is at night that shrews appear on the surface of the earth. 
Using Ultrasonic Repeller
You can try to scare away the shrew from the plot, using scare devices. They are mechanical, electromechanical and electronic.
Mechanical shredder repeller possible to make their own hands. To do this, you need old glass or cans, bottles of glass and plastic. They are put on an iron bar, which is stuck into the ground so that it is located below the moves of animals. Sharp sounds and vibrations of the soil when exposed to a bottle or can of wind, such a device will scare the pest away from the vegetable garden.
If you make a "turntable" of a plastic bottle, then in its bottom you must make a hole with a diameter slightly larger than the diameter of the pin on which you plan to wear it. Then, on four sides of the bottle, rectangular windows are made, one edge of which must be folded down. When the wind blows, the bottle will spin and make a frightening sound.
The same effect will have computer discs hanging on the ropes.
A simpler and more effective way to get rid of a shrew will be installation of ultrasonic repeller. Their principle is that they make sounds unpleasant for the animal. As a result, he is forced to transfer the boundaries of his "hunting ground" to another place, away from your site.
Of such repellents, we can recommend the "Tornado OZV 01". It is able to scare away shrews, moles, and bearies with the help of periodically emitted vibrations at a distance of 20-30 m. It is installed in the garden.
A stronger device is "Antikrot". Its radius of action is up to 1000 m.
Pesticide use
Of course, the chemical method is most effective, especially in combination with mechanical. However, it has a number of negative aspects. First, the natural purpose of the shrew is the extermination of insects. Therefore, killing animals, a person can provoke a massive spread of harmful insects. Secondly, a poison for shrews can be eaten by any other animal, for example, a domestic one, because it is impossible to control.
When applying this method, it is necessary to give preference to drugs of the 4th class, which are of low risk for humans and domestic animals. They also use poison for mice, which is laid out before entering the mink, or fall asleep directly into it. 
For the destruction of shrew suitable and other means applied to rodents. For example, "Hunter Antigryzun". When it is used, the animal suffocates. Also use the remedy for the Nutcracker shrew. It is sold in the form of a thick substance that must be put near the entrance to the hole.
The rat death is a very strong poison. It is used only in extreme cases, causing terrible death in a mammal, accompanied by suffocation and internal bleeding.
Also used "gas bombs", which are lowered into holes and tunnels.
Important! Remember that poisons left for the shrew at the site can cause harm to other animals and children.We examined what a shrew is, and studied different methods of how to deal with it. To get rid of shrews, it is necessary to apply an integrated approach and use several methods of struggle at the same time. First of all, you need to try to scare off the pests, so that they bypass your tenth expensive garden.
