Figure 1. The prominent whiskers of the American water shrew (Sorex palustris) guide foraging behavior.

A. The water shrew's face under the scanning electron microscope illustrating the prominent whiskers surrounding the nose and mouth. The very small eyes are mostly hidden below the fur. B. A shrew enters the water in pursuit of a quickly moving fish. Water shrews capture moving prey by responding quickly to deflection of the whiskers [3]. Note the large spread of the larger, more caudal whiskers that would likely be deflected as the fish escapes. C. A single frame captured from high-speed video shows a water shrew discriminating a cast model fish from distractors using its whiskers (from [3]). The model was attacked and retrieved. Infrared lighting was used in these trials.