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Oh to be a Buena Vista Lake ornate shrew stumbling upon a baited camera trap. It would be like taking a walk around your neighborhood and coming across a mountain of cinnamon rolls, freshly packaged and free for the taking in exchange for a commemorative photo.
This little shrew found itself caught by the lens of one of 36 camera traps set by refuge staff at Kern National Wildlife Refuge as it dined on mealworms. Not much is known about this endangered subspecies of ornate shrew that calls California's San Joaquin Valley home, but because of this study, we're beginning to learn more. For instance, it was thought that the shrew mostly stayed close to water, but now we're finding that they can be found foraging nearly a mile away from the closest water source. The Service will be continuing this camera study for at least one year to understand more about how the shrew uses different plants and other parts of its habitat throughout the seasons.
