Longevity of the Short-tailed Shrew

For many years it has been suspected that shrews survive only one breeding season. Most of the reports on this subject have dealt with the genus Sorex, which includes the Common and Lesser shrews of Europe as well as the longtailed shrews of North America, but the American short-tailed shrews, Blarina and Cryptotis, have been suspected of being equally short-lived. Some recent authors have suggested that meadow mice, deer mice, and other small rodents also have surprisingly short life spans (Baker and Ranson, 1933; Burt, 1940; Hamilton, 1937, 1941, 1942).