I just caught what i thought was a mouse... But its not! I dont know what it is!?

Question

So I live in Michigan so this can only be a northern species. It has a longer looking body, but its still not big. It also has a short tail. (about an inch) And its grey. The face looks completly diffrent than a mouse. (small eyes, longer muzzle)

Does anyone know what this could be and?!?!

It also does'nt have ears, I think its too small to be a mole.

I just looked up mole and it’s defiantly not a mole. It’s either a shrew, or vole…. How can I tell the different and Do you think there could be more in my house :(

Answer 1

As Rikounet said, it may well have been a shrew.

Shrews are insectivorous critters, usually a little smaller than your typical house mouse.

Here's a picture of a dead one http://www.volecontrol.com/Images/shrew.jpg

Here's a cuter picture of one on the sidewalk
http://www.gardensafari.net/pics/spitsmuis/great_white-toothed_shrew.jpg

Here's one with a better look at his cute little pointy muzzle.
http://www.naturephoto-cz.com/photos/andera/common-shrew-3806.jpg

There are several different species of shrew - and some have short tails, some have long, and some have fairly large ears while others have almost no visible ears at all.

They do have long muzzles and small eyes, and are actually more closely related to moles than anything else.

North American moles are also a lot smaller than a lot of people realize, but they are fairly easily identifiable by their very large digging paws.

Answer 2

Here are photo links for a shrew and vole in your area. Short tail, long muzzle sounds like a shrew but shrews are very aggressive. Voles are a lot like mice with tiny ears and shorter tails. So with the long muzzle and small eyes my money's on a pygmy shrew...if you still have it you might want to contact your local ag extension or wildlife expert--it seems strange to find one in a home and it may have been sick or something.
If it were a mole you'd notice the big front feet.

Answer 3

probably a mole. We live in rural southerntier New York by creek and woods. My cats get lots of them. Long muzzle usually gives it away that it's a mole and not a mouse. poor things.

This is a cool website but there's a better one I can't find:
http://www.enature.com/home/

pictures of moles:
http://www.enature.com/fieldguides/view_default.asp?curGroupID=5&source=&parkid=&fromWhere=&searchText=mole&allSpecies=y&shapeID=0&lshapeID=0&curAbbr=&lgFromWhere=&curPageNum=1&lastView=default&lastGroup=4&lastRegion=&lastFilter=4&lastShapeName=&trackType=&curRegionID=&size=&habitat=&fruit=&color=&sortBy=family&viewType=default&curFamilyID=®ionSelect=All+regions®ionZIP=

Nature Conservancy in Michigan webpage:
http://www.nature.org/wherewework/northamerica/states/michigan/

United States Geological Survey Website has tons of info on science/nature/weather, etc. didn't find much for moles though...lots of info though on science/nature stuff:
http://www.usgs.gov/


This is the link for US Fish and Wildlife Services - they have a link to great lakes area: (not sure if mole information - but thought i'd pass it on...)
http://www.fws.gov/

I had a real good field guide online before but it's on my computer that I've been trying to fix for five days now (and the reason i'm on yahoo answers out of desperation!)...

if the moles are a problem though, cats are definitely a good answer...otherwise i'm more into live and let live...nature does tend to take care of itself to balance itself out...(of course this doesn't hold true for the suburbs or cities...)

p.s. (returning to edit after reading other posts that posted while I was posting..) Yep - could be vole or shrew..had some of those too...

Answer 4

Sounds like a mole. There are a bunch of different types. They burrow in the ground. (Might be a shrew, which is a bit different)

Answer 5

Hi, I used to live in Michigan too, but now live in Colorado. I think you might have caught a mole. They are small and have a long nose. look it up on the Internet to confirm. or look for small rodents, mammals to see a picture of them.

Answer 6

Michigan here.....if it's about the same size as a mouse, it's a vole. Moles are larger.
Fortunately, they appear to be dumber than mice....so they're pretty easy to trap.
Like mice, though, if there's one vole...expect to see more. They like to bring their families. lol.

Answer 7

I live in michigan also, i believe it is a mole. it is common for them to try to get into warmer places in the winter.

Answer 8

Shrew.
Keep it for half an hour - if it dies of starvation because of its incredibly high metabolic rate, it's a shrew.

Answer 9

A baby mole?

Answer 10

It sounds like a shrew to me. Did it make a high-pitched sound when you caught it?