The Eurasian water Shrew is found in many parts of northern Europe except for Ireland and Iceland. They extend through Asia to the Pacific coasts of Siberia, China and North Korea.
   The water shrew is usually found by leafy waterways. While clear, fast running streams and rivers yield the most prey watercress beds, dykes, and drainage ditches are also popular habitats.
   Even though the shrew is an expert at tunneling, they readily move into abandoned burrows made by wood mice and bank voles.

   The water shrew exhausts energy reserves so quickly that they must feed every hour or two. To maintain their body temperature, the shrews eat roughly their own body weight in food each day. They hunt in brief bursts by day and night but are most active just before the dawn.
   Few small creatures escape the notice of the shrew. During the summer, their habitat teems with insects and larvae, as well as mollusks and worms. The shrew moves into bushes to snatch snails or resting insects as well as succulent plant growths.
   The shrew also dives to catch small fish, frogs and other amphibians. Besides their needle sharp bite, they also secrete nerve toxins in their saliva to help subdue prey.

   The water shrew breeds between April and September. Mating is a brief affair devoid of courtship. The female then builds a large nesting chamber in a secure burrow. They give birth to a litter of five or six three weeks after mating. The female has ten teats with which to suckle them. The miniscule young are born pink, naked and blind but grow quickly and are weaned after 37 days. Shortly after, the mother chases them from her teritory.
   Young shrews become sexually mature at six months. Those born early in the season may produce that same year. Young shrews molt in October and grow a thick coat for winter. Most adults die after their first year of breeding.