American Pygmy Shrew - The Smallest Mammal in the Backyard Is also the fastest!

A Speedy Vole, Unique Mouse or the elusive Pygmy Shrew?

Fast little mammal likes bird seed and is about 3" long total from nose to tail

Visiting the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina I was feeding birds by laying some seed on a flat rock. While watching the birds from a distance I caught a glimpse of this diminutive critter as a blur picking up exactly one piece of bird seed at a time from the rock and jumping back into a hole. It was too fast to note any details so I set up a camera trap and let it run for 15 minutes and caught the little thing going back and forth 4 times.  Even with the video slowed to 1/8 normal speed it's a blur.  I though mole at first and still don't know for sure what it is. There is a great information sheet on the three species of moles east of the Rockies from NC State.  
A screen grab shows it is definitely not mole-like - no big webbed front feet, in fact the feet are kind of dainty - it's apparently omnivorous  and too small - about 3" form nose to tail. It is closer to a mouse in size , but doesn't exactly look like any mouse I know and is pretty small for a Vole. Its hole was about the size of a quarter and it does not tunnel extensively, rather there is a lair under very heavy leaf litter on the edge of landscape fabric held by the large stone at 3,600 feet elevation. Probably a odd coincidence that I put bird seed right next to its house.  You would think it would be easy to ID - What is it? Have any thoughts pass them on. Cute little thing though - and incredibly fast and athletic - I love the way it dives into the hole as a blur even in slow motion. 

Late breaking thought - I didn't consider shrew as it seemed way too small for a shrew without an extremely pronounced snout, but I just found out there is a thing called an "American Pygmy Shrew" known to live in these parts and this little thing shares some of the characteristics - notably the size and feet and a less pronounced pointed nose compared to the typical shrew. The thing is just to darn fast - I'll have to go through the video frame by frame.

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