The Pygmy Shrew is believed to be the smallest mammal in England. It can be found in a variety of places such as woodlands, meadows, heathland, moors, hedgerows and road verges, basically anywhere with enough ground cover.

The Pygmy Shrew has a body length of around five centimetres and has dark brown fur on top and grey-white fur below. Its tail is about four centimetres long and is covered in fine hairs. It weighs approximately four grammes which is almost the same weight as a one pence piece. Its face is long and pointed with a pink snout and long sensitive whiskers. It also has four pinkish coloured legs and feet.

Pygmy Shrews are active day and night and they need to eat almost hourly to be able to survive. They take regular breaks in nests in burrows to conserve energy, although they very rarely look for food in burrows. They often shuffle through leaf litters to find spiders and beetles, but they also forage the ground for woodlice, snails and slugs. They don’t eat earthworms because they are usually too big for this small shrew.