Greetings! The answer is most decidedly FRIEND!!! Short-tailed shrews (Blarina brevicauda) are voracious predators, mainly of invertebrates, small vertebrates, and plant material. Most of the inverts they eat we consider garden pests. Shrews must feed frequently, commonly in the early and late afternoon. It is estimated that they consume and metabolize as much as three times their weight in food per day. Thus, they thank you for the Bird seed, and some have been known to climb heights of +/- 3 feet for suet!! In Winter, Shrews store food including snails and beetles, as well as nutmeats, sunflower seeds.

The submaxillary salivary glands of Blarina brevicauda produce a toxic material which is effective in subduing its prey. This enables it to prey upon animals much larger than itself, including salamanders, frogs, snakes, mice, birds, and other shrews. I have never seen this in nature...?

Northern short-tailed shrews are aggressive and will threaten and physically drive away any intruders. They escape predation by remaining hidden in the cover of vegetation or under the soil or snow during foraging expeditions from their nest. They may also make themselves distasteful by exuding a musky odor from glands on their belly and sides. Many mammal predators, such as weasels and foxes, may refuse to eat northern short-tailed shrews because of their foul taste. Oddly, I see them ofetn here in central NY, USA. Running across Rd.s, or scratching and scurrying on nature trails.

I'll second Matt's informative post. I wish I could see shrews more often when they're not scurrying frantically away.

oh good good lol
id love to see one at the suet feeder that would be hesterical. should i offer them dog or catfood on the ground? and im really curious, where do they live? there usually within the same area of the fence slipping in and out but i dont see any holes or tunnels. they were fighting today letting out these odd screams, even my cat was amazed lol
its a good thing they have that toxic saliva otherwise i bet they would have ended up in the pet trade, that coat is just soooo appealing...hmmm maybe a shrew coat? lol im kidding of course :o)

Greetings! Shrew 'tunnels' may be no more elaborate than a mere pathway beneath leaf litter or tall grass. They are just trying to stay out of sight. You could offer them food, but it may just as easily be taken by other rodents, canids, or feral cats. Shres really need to eat, which is why if they have 'pegged' your feeding station as a place that has a lot of nourishment, they will visit it whenever they can.
How about setting up a hidden ShrewCam???

a hidden shrew cam hehe that would be fun. i only have a digital camera thats pretty crappy. it takes video though but it doesnt have a spot light or anything and it times out in 10 minutes lol. for xmas im getting a digital motion camera that takes pics in the dark this should be very cool :o)
and you bet i will post some pics...i bet theres critters that visit i wouldnt even think of :o)