Shrews are not rated high gastronomically by many mammals. This is apparently due to the hip glands which have a strong, pungent odor. But their lack of palatability does not give them much protection. If, for instance, a fox locates a faint sound in the grass, he pounces and learns later what he has caught. If the prey is a shrew, it may be left where killed by the fox, carried a short way and dropped, or during denning time even brought home to the den before discarded. I have often found shrew carcasses lying uneaten about fox dens. Birds of prey feed more extensively on them possibly because of their poorly developed sense of smell, and sense of taste. Grayling, and also trout, have been found with one or more shrews in their stomachs. At Moose Creek, several grayling were taken which had eaten shrews, one having eaten three of them. This indicates that the species captured, readily enter the water. (One species, the water shrew, not found in the park, is specialized for aquatic life).
Denali (Mount McKinley) in early winter.
The shrew population is apparently cyclic for there are years when they are very abundant, followed by years of extreme scarcity.
Four kinds of shrews are in the park. They differ from one another in several respects, but may be fairly well identified by tail length alone. The masked shrew (Sorex cinereus) has a tail averaging about 39 millimeters long; the tail of the vagrant shrew (Sorex obscurus) averages about 48 mm.; and that of the rare pygmy shrew (Microsorex hoyi eximius), 31 mm. The average length of tail of the Arctic shrew (Sorex arcticus tundrensis) is about 36 mm., overlapping slightly in this measurement that of the masked shrew, but the rich chocolate color of the Arctic shrew will identify it.
Bat
Vespertilioninae
A bat was reported in flight at Wonder Lake in 1959 and again in 1960. Since no specimen has been examined there is no definite identification, but judging from the geographical distribution of bats it seems probable that those seen in the park belong to the genus Myotis. Three or four species of this genus are known to occur in southeastern Alaska. The little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus alascensis) has been taken at Illiamna Lake at the base of the Alaska Peninsula so it seems likely that this is the bat seen at Wonder Lake.
The Mouse World
Microtinae
Are there any trails in the park? Yes, thousands of miles, but most of them are under a canopy of grass and sphagnum moss and are only 1 or 2 inches wide, so of course they are not of much use to you. And even if we could nibble on Alice’s mushroom and grow, in reverse, small enough to use them, we would hardly dare, at least a lady wouldn’t, for she would soon meet a mouse, inasmuch as these trails have been constructed by, and belong to, mice. And I might add that the fierce little shrews use them too. Where the trails cross green, mossy carpets and enter tiny exquisite nooks I imagine one might also meet a few northern fairies.
Seven kinds of mice (voles and lemmings) are known to live in the park. Some of these are quite outstanding for one thing or another, and possibly all of them are, if we only knew more about them. However, we do know that they are all important.