The text and paintings on The Trowbridge Chronicles are taken from the illustrated journal of Violet Trowbridge, a shrew that once lived in a village deep in the Olympic Rain Forest. Each new post will represent a portion of Mrs. Trowbridge’s journal.

Wednesday, August 02, 2006

SIX SQUEAKY CLEAN PINKIES!

The sorrow of last week's tragic death turns to joy this week as we find Mrs. Trowbridge and Woodrow celebrating their first litter of grandchildren. How would you like your first grandchild to turn into, not twins, but sextuplets? Six is an average number for a litter of shrews, and litters can number up to a dozen. That's a lot of hungry mouths to feed.

A word about shrews: After they're born, they have busy, demanding lives ahead of them, for a shrew must eat his weight everyday, or die. That's why, if you were to study shrews, you would observe them frantically scurrying about the forest floor, desperately seeking the next meal. Shrews give new meaning to the term "fast food".

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

they sure are clean! I'm happy that there are better times for mrs T.

° said...

wow i dont think i would ever wanna eat my weight worth in fast food everyday lol. good thing shews arent any bigger then they are then cause thats aloota eatten.
cute illo, love the soft pallette u use for this.

Amy Zaleski said...

That is so darn sweet! They do look squeaky clean. Interesting tidbit of info on the shrew eating its weight every day. Whew, lotsa pressure there! It's so nice to see the Trowbridge thumbnails on the Illustration Friday site again. Thanks for taking the time to do more!

Jeff G said...

The baby pigs are nicely drawn. I love that you faded them.

Geninne said...

Aaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwww!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks Bron for a huge dose of cute pinkness to IF. Love, love, love those little shrews :-)

L. A. Stern said...

ooooo they look like little pink mousekises ;) toooooo sweet!

Willie Baronet said...

Very shrewd of you. ;-)

Susan Mitchell said...

Aww! So pink and snuggly sweet - lovely story too:)

Kay Aker said...

Gasp! Baby shrews -they're so irresistably adorable! Touching and beautiful!

flossy-p said...

WEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! How cute!
I want to have something that I can name Shrew Pinky! Maybe I'll go shoe shopping get myself a comfy pair of Shrew Pinkies.

HARDWAX said...

Happier days for Mrs. Trowbridge and Woodrow, wonderful. The little shrews look so cozy and comfy, once again Mrs. Trowbridge has done a great job conveying a moment in time through her amazing paintings. Beautiful post!

carla said...

Awww...they're so sweet! They look very clean and warm and pink snoozing in their basket....I'd like to just reach out and touch them. Interesting info on shrews...they really do have to stay on top of things!

stephanie said...

That is very sweet! My pet bunny just had babies on Mon 7.31. It was a shock because I didn't realize that she was a she and that she was pregnant until the day before. (the pet store told us they were both male.) I love how delicate your illustration is and how well it goes with your story.

Gabrielle said...

It sounds like Lily's going to be going through a lot of strained carrots.

A sweet drawing and story!

luisa brehm said...

sooooo cool and original !!!

Jannie aka Chickengirl said...

so sweet!

Christine Lim said...

Congrats! Nice to see joy your illos again. :)

Anonymous said...

wonderful writing and illo...your work is so evoking and really makes me curious about forests and mountains...

Anonymous said...

OH MY! I came back from my vacation to such great news! Babies and they are so very adorable!! I just love them all!

Ginger*:) said...

The study of shrews, Hmmmmmmmmm.... I must begin that in earnest. Congratulations Violet and Woodrow and Lily and hubby. This must be such a joy for all of you. What kind of transportation will the little band of shrews need?

And please safeguard them from 'Capture'

Tricky Trev said...

I love those wee shrews! Awesome illo! I just realized something, I talk a lot about shrews. I wonder what that means?

Anonymous said...

Oh! How cute is this! These are the most precious little babies! Wonderful as always Mr. S.

valerie walsh said...

What a wonderful celebration! They sure are darling and little! Sure would love to see them as they grow!!!