The pygmy shrew

Once I noticed Banjo watching an old rose bush at a point where thick roots formed a small arch above the soil. When he started to paw under the arch a shrew ran to escape from him. Banjo watched the little mammal, then began to follow it pawing it so that it changed direction. Eventually he killed it and tossed it into the air. He didn't eat it. Cats generally find shrews distasteful.

It was a pygmy shrew, a tiny mammal few people have ever seen, which weighs 5g (about 50,000 pygmy shrews would need to be placed on the bathroom scales to register my weight). It had a broad, black back, a pale belly, a long tail, small eyes and a slender, pointed snout. Shrews are classified as insectivores but they eat a variety of small invertebrates. Woodlice, spiders and beetles, but also fruits, seeds and small carrion are drawn into the snout and broken up by small, sharp, red-tipped teeth. They forage day and night, alternating periods of activity with periods of rest. Their nests are loose balls of woven grasses at, or just below, ground level.

They don't hibernate in winter, the young, born in the spring and summer ensure that the species survives when their parents die in autumn.

Banjo tired of the dead shrew after playing with it for some time and Sherpa, who had been watching, took over the toy. When she had satisfied her desire to play and walked away, Banjo resumed his playing. When he had enough the shrew was left on a step outside the french window.