Tiny Wood Mice

Photos taken:
2022/08/12

A mouse!!

Mice have been living in my garden for a few years now, but they're very small and very quick so most of the time I only ever catch flashes of them as they dart out of view.

But I've finally got pictures!! I only managed to take these photos by hiding behind the shed and peeking around the corner like a cartoon character, and despite my Scooby-Doo shenanigans I still couldn't get very close without scaring them off, so the photos are very zoomed in and quite blurry. But here they are!

There's actually two mice here; they were taking turns, going back and forth to collect the bird seed off the tray, and then quickly scurrying back down underneath the shed. In the final photo you can see a little bit of the white fur on their belly just before they disappear from view.

This sounds a little silly, but what surprised me the most was just how small they were. Of course mice are small, but I didn't think mammals could get this small, you know? Like, they were about 7cm long (not including the tail) which is not much bigger than the elephant hawk moth I found.

aaaa!! They're just soo small and cute!!!

As to what kind of mice they are, I believe these are wood mice. A while ago a mysterious hole appeared in the garden... a small patch of grass had sunk in and collapsed revealing a hole about 10cm deep, and when investigated further the holes extended into some kind of tunnel system. Wood mice dig burrows like this to shelter in and store food for the late autumn and winter, so that's probably where they're taking all of the bird seed.

I would investigate the mystery hole further but I don't want to disturb the mice and also they are known to be a potential carrier of hantaviruses, which can give you some pretty nasty side effects like massive amounts of bleeding under your skin, fluid building up in your lungs, and death, so it's probably best to stay away.

Hopefully I'll get to see them from a short distance away again tho, they're very cute!