Even the least among us ...

I learned a new French word today.  It's one that I have never had occasion to use.  I probably never will have much of another.  But it has a cute sound.  The tiny animal that it depicts is even cuter.  "La musaraigne étrusque" (Etruscan Shrew) is the smallest known mammal in the world, at least by mass.  In fact, it is even smaller than the word "musaraigne" is.

That an Etruscan Shrew even crossed my radar today is because I learned that one, measuring only six centimeters from the tip of its tiny nose to the end of its tiny tail, has begun a new career as a star attraction at the Muséum d'histoire naturelle in Geneva.   Named Moïse (Moses) because it was saved from drowning in the filter of a swimming pool in the Ardèche in nearby France, it was then sent to Geneva to make its new home.  Now this particular Etruscan Shrew appears regularly at the Museum on Wednesday afternoons before an audience of enchanted children and their parents.

As it happens, Moïse is a female.  During her weekly appearances at the Museum, the children can observe her in her well-ordered habitat.  Ordinarily, this would be almost impossible.  So it is a real treat for them -- and for "old children" like me -- to learn that she is fussily fastidious in her habits.  She lays out a plan in her habitat that has a bedroom for sleeping, a kitchen for storing her reserves of food (insects) and separate areas that she uses for bathrooms.

Her tiny heart beats at around 830 times a minute ... when she's resting.  It's nearly double that when she hunts or is excited.  She has huge ears, almost as large for her as Dumbo's were for him, long mustaches that cause her to react very quickly to anything they touch, and small eyes.

Etruscan shrews are usually found along the perimeter of the Mediterranean Sea, although they can also be found in the Rhone valley, as was the case with this one.  They got their name because the first one that was recognized as a distinct species was found near Pisa in Italy in the early 19th century.

Welcome to the area, new little neighbor!  May your new lease on life provide many opportunities for learning!