Seasonal and interannual survivorship in the common shrew: the early bird catches the worm

In a 7-year capture-recapture analysis, we estimated effects of population density and weather conditions on the mortality rate in five neighbouring populations located in different habitats in Central Russia. Non-resident shrews had little chance of surviving to reproduction. The average lifespan of resident young shrews first seen in June, July and August was 4.7, 4.5 and 3.2 months, respectively, and the longest one was 15 months. In spring, the number of males that overwintered exceeded that of females; subsequently, the former diminished faster leading to a female-biased sex ratio in late summer. Young common shrews survived the winter usually close to their summer home ranges, although several > 100 m shifts were recorded. The number of newly discovered overwintering shrews positively correlated ( r = 0.93, P