Host Shrew

For the first time in a long while, I had put on my taxidermist hat to prepare some small animal furs for a touchable exhibit piece. My three subjects were a mouse, shrew, and vole – all a delicate challenge to work with considering both their body size and the length of time they had been submerged in our deep chest freezer. I was curious to see what mysteries would unravel as their little bodies thawed and I interacted with them more but didn’t quite expect to find other beings within them!

Apparently, the little shrew had been host to parasites. I had first noticed this when uncovering four curious masses underneath the inside layer of skin. After effortlessly removing one with a blunt probe, I quickly realized that the little mass unwound and pulled out to a long, rounded mystery parasite. A worm?!

While preparing this shrew, four curious masses became visible under the skin.

Without deviating into investigation, I suspect this is a normal parasite for shrew.

Despite a curious nature, I documented my find and pushed forwarded to complete my goal of preparing the three animals so that they could dry over the weekend. And while I briefly leaned into my curiosity again to pull up an intriguing report (Shrews and Their Parasites: Small Species Indicate Big Changes), I will hold off from extraneous explorations until our upcoming exhibit work is out of the way.