This small shrew ranges across northern North America and searches for small invertebrates on forest floors and in wetlands.
Its head is narrow and its nose pointed; short, soft fur partly hides its small eyes. The back is gray-brown in summer and grayer in winter, while the underside is paler.
It digs in soft, moist soil and leaf litter, and also uses tunnels made by other animals to search for food. Its diet includes insects and other invertebrates.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.