Hedgehogs, moles and shrews are a loosely related group of small animals. They have long snouts and very keen senses of smell that they use to find their prey. Most eat insects, worms and other tiny creatures, but some shrews are able to kill quite large prey, such as frogs. Many of these animals are nocturnal, emerging only at night to feed.

Moles

Moles are small, burrowing animals with clawed, shovel-like paws and small eyes. There are 46 species of mole and their relatives, the desmans and shrew moles. Moles rely mostly on their sense of touch to get around and detect prey. Their flexible snouts are particularly sensitive.

Moles tunnel underground in search of worms and other invertebrates to eat. They build underground "larders" for storing earthworms for later consumption. As a mole digs, it pushes the waste soil up to the surface to form a mole hill. Some species may forage for food on the forest floor at night, but most moles feed on invertebrates that fall into their network of tunnels.

Hedgehogs

Different species of hedgehog are found all over Europe, Asia and Africa: 16 in all. They eat a wide range of foods, chiefly earthworms, but also insects, slugs, birds' eggs, bird chicks and fruit. They also scavenge on the carcasses of dead animals. A European hedgehog goes in search of food at night, often wandering into gardens or rubbish dumps. If threatened, it erects the 5000–6000 spines on its back, rolls into a tight ball and freezes until the danger has gone away.

Tree shrews

Despite their name, tree shrews are not related to "true" shrews. In fact, they are more closely related to primates: lemurs, monkeys, apes and humans. They are slender animals, averaging about 20 centimetres (8 inches) long, with pointed snouts and long tails. There are 20 species, all living in the Southeast Asian rainforest. They use their keen eyesight to search for and find insects, small vertebrates, fruit and seeds to eat.

Elephant shrews

Elephant shrews are not related to true shrews either, despite their tiny size and shrew-like appearance. They get their name from their elongated, trunk-like snouts, but many biologists now think they are actually also distantly related to elephants, along with the manatees, hyraxes and the aardvark.