Whether the grizzly’s belligerent attitude stems from fear or contempt is a moot question. The important point to remember is that a grizzly should be avoided at all times. Injuries suffered by humans in their contacts with black bears are usually accidental rather than the result of deliberate assault by the animal. Grizzlies have been known to charge without other provocation than trespass on what they consider their territory. Surely the public can afford to humor this irascible giant. A little consideration for its irritable nature is not too great a price to pay for its continued existence in our rapidly dwindling numbers of large carnivores.
Vagrant shrew
Sorex vagrans (Latin: a shrew ... wandering)
Range: Confined to mountains of western United States and Canada, and northern and southern Mexico.
Habitat: Moist places in forests of the Transition Life Zones and higher.
Description: A tiny creature with a long nose. Total length 4 to 5 inches. Tail 1½ to 2 inches. Color reddish brown to black above with sides drab and lightening to gray below. Tail indistinctly bi-color except for the last half which is dark all the way around. Head round and narrowing to a long, pointed, somewhat flexible nose. Long whiskers are found along the sides of the upper jaw. Eyes and ears so small as to be difficult to see. Little is known of breeding habits of the shrews. The vagrant shrew is said to breed at any time of year and to have from 5 to 11 young in a litter.
Shrews are the smallest American mammals. Their size and secretive habits combine to make them among the least known of native animals. They are classed as insectivores, although they eat other small mammals as well as insects. They may be distinguished from mice by their bicuspid incisors and modified canine teeth. Another difference is that shrews have five toes, in contrast to the four-toed feet of mice.
vagrant shrew
As far as is known at present, certain species of shrews are the only poisonous mammals. The big short-tailed shrew (eastern United States) has a toxic substance in its saliva which helps subdue some of the animals it captures. It is thought that some western species also have this peculiarity. Though shrews are among the tiniest animals known, they are not unduly persecuted by larger predators. This is thought to be partly because of certain glands on the shrew’s body which give it an offensive odor.