How to get rid of a shrew in the garden once and for all

Who is a shrew

Shrew is one of the smallest land mammals. But, despite its size, the harm caused by her work can be simply enormous, since they belong to such animals that feed on insects, they can eat beneficial insects, which are helpers in your garden and in the garden. Due to the fact that this is a very nimble and fast animal, it is able to dig through almost the entire vegetable garden in a couple of days. Therefore, to get rid of it, you need to take drastic measures and quickly!

But in order to be sure for sure in the presence of this pest, it is worth noticing this small beast on the site, then it will be possible to take some measures. It will be difficult to calculate it from minks, because they are small in size. Another feature of this animal is that they do not gnaw on plants. If you notice damaged plants, you can be sure that this is not a shrew.

You can recognize a shrew by such external features: it looks like an ordinary field mouse. But there are little signs of a difference between the two rodents. First, the shrew has a longer and thicker tail. Secondly, the muzzle is more elongated than that of the mouse. In the gardens of our country, the most common species of this animal are often the shrew (it is also called the baby shrew) and the tiny shrew. The second type is one of the smallest of all types: in size it reaches a maximum of five centimeters. Her coat is usually light brown. So it is important to distinguish it from a regular field mouse. It is this smallest species of shrew that brings the greatest amount of harm to gardeners and gardeners.

This type of rodent is found in small areas. It is believed that they came to Europe, brought in the holds of ships. It has a characteristic appearance: grayish-brown wool, small in size, which can reach up to a network of centimeters. In addition, these animals are quite fertile: in just one season, they can give up to four litters. A distinctive feature of female shrews is that they can give birth as early as one to two months. Thus, it is worth noting that if you do not start to deal with these pests in time, their number in your garden can become fatal.

What is the harm and benefit

Starting with the harm caused by the shrew, it is worth noting the fact that they have a very fast metabolism. This means that they must be in the process of obtaining food almost all the time. In fact, despite their small size, and rather cute external, shrews are considered very fierce predators. Since they can feed on various insects and their larvae that fall under their hands. The main thing is that they do not distinguish which insects are pests for plants - they eat everyone. In a day, for example, they can eat so many beetles and worms that their number will be several times higher than the animal's own weight.

Among the minuses, one can recall the fact that shrews dig a huge number of passages and holes underground, and sometimes use old ones or strangers, which, for example, were left by moles. And now, in search of various underground larvae, this animal can gnaw a lot of roots, root crops, in general, everything that occurs on their way. The worst thing a shrew can do harm is a lawn. She can easily ruin evenly cut grass in a matter of days.

Among the advantages of living on your site, shrews, it can be noted that their underground passages improve soil aeration. This is good for plants that can survive the invasion of this animal. But this is the only positive thing about a shrew on your site. In most cases, it will be better to get rid of it. Because spoiled lawns and lost crops overshadow all the benefits of this cute animal.

Video “Kicking shrews out of the garden”

Chemistry control techniques

Over the years of practice, scientists have developed several chemicals that are designed to combat the shrew. Among them, the most effective ones can be noted, for example, "The Nutcracker", "Rat Death" or "Hunter Anti-Rodent". As a rule, they can cause suffocation in a rodent and a quick, rather painless death. The main thing is to be careful when using these drugs. And before that, it is important to read the detailed manual for it. But still, no matter how quickly death occurs for a rodent, this method is not humane.

Folk techniques and scarers

Whether it is folk methods and shrews scarers. They are very easy to use, but not always effective. One of the most common methods of expelling shrews is to flood the animal's mink with water.

They say that if you do this procedure several times, the animal will stop visiting your summer cottage. Shrews also do not like strong odors, as they have a very good sense of smell. So you can leave rotten fish or kerosene in places where they were seen for a while. But these smells are also unpleasant for people, so you can use plants as a deterrent - imperial hazel grouse, wormwood, peas, beans, lentils, mint.

But scarers can be roughly divided into two groups: ultrasonic and mechanical - the most humane of all methods of fighting a shrew. They do no harm to this small animal. The oldest way to scare away a shrew is quite simple: you need to make a small turntable, as a rule, use a plastic bottle or aluminum can for this, and attach it to a stick. When this device rotates, it will create vibrations that will drive the rodent away. And also such devices, ready-made, are sold in stores.

Video "Shrews and moles: how to deal with them"

The video below is an up-to-date guide, after reading which you can easily get rid of these types of pests in your garden.