Did you know that Pacific water shrews can literally walk on water? The hairs on their tiny feet trap air bubbles that allow them to run across water for up to five seconds! These little buddies live around here but are very rare, mostly because we are building farms and subdivisions on their homes but also because they just weren’t that abundant to begin with. They like forests with slow-running streams, which are becoming increasingly uncommon in the Valley with urbanization.
Pacific water shrews’ favourite hobbies are needlepoint and scuba diving. In fact, they are the smallest diving mammal in the world — about the weight of a triple-A battery. They can smell their prey underwater using tiny air bubbles they blow out of their noses. Truly adorable!
Thank you for tuning in to this week’s episode of “Mostly True But All Delightful Conservation Facts.” Come back next week for “Angry and Afraid”: facts about our local at-risk barn owls.
Illustrator: Mikaela Collins
