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We have a lot of woodmice in our garden. The conditions are ideal. We
keep rabbits, which means there's a lot of bedding and food available and the garden is not "over manicured", so it is easy for them to go about their day to day business unseen.
Well, the mice probably think we don't see them but we spot them all the time. Sometimes they are just a couple of feet away, like the one who did not spot us watching him from just the other side of our patio door as it helped itself to some birdfood.
Other times, we see them around the
rabbit hutches and we think there is a family nesting under the rabbit's "day house" in their
outdoor run. Then of course we see evidence of their visits in our shed.
This particular mouse story began the day we were going to visit my parents for a few days. We were all packed and ready to go. All I had to do was water the tomato plants in my greenhouse.
There I was, watering away, when I moved a pot and heard an almighty squeak. A slightly damp mouse made a run for it. Then I saw something move out of the corner of my eye. On top of the earth in one of the pots were two new born baby mice.
I felt dreadful. They were barely two centimetres long, their umbilical chords were still attached. I could not see where the nest could possibly be, so I grabbed a flower pot, stuffed some hay into it and without touching them with my hands, gently scooped them into the flowerpot and prayed that Mum would come back and rescue them.
I spent the next few days worrying about those baby mice and wondering what I would find when we returned home. I did not say anything to Sparky and Lizzy because I did not want to upset them.
When we got home, I immediately checked the flowerpot. No sign of the babies. Either Mum had come back or....well, I didn't want to dwell on what could have happened.
A week later I decided that was the day I had to tidy up the greenhouse. I had plants that needed repotting and a mass of empty flowerpots all over the place. They needed stacking ready to make room as I will need to bring some plants into shelter, as
Autumn progresses and the weather gets colder.
Oh no, I don't believe it! I pick up a pot, move it and something catches my eye - AGAIN! One baby mouse, eyes not yet open, about four cms long, a covering of fur, crawling across the greenhouse floor. Grab another flowerpot, scoop up baby mouse. It is terrified and shaking with fear. I gently cover it with hay to keep it warm and start looking for the nest.
Could I find the nest? No. All I could do was quickly finish what I was doing and leave, hoping that Mum would come back and rescue her baby - again!
It was only when I pulled a fuschia out of a pot that was getting too small for it, that I wished I had not. There in the bottom of the post was the nest, with three more babies in it.
One wrecked nest. FOUR homeless baby mice, who would die unless they could be reunited with Mum pretty quickly.
Then I spotted the Mother. Frantically running up and down outside the back of the greenhouse.
I was frantic by this time too. I ran inside the house, called for Sparky and told her to keep an eye on what was happening from a safe distance, while I tried to find out what to do. Time to call
St Tiggywinkles!
Darn it! No one picks up the phone. It is a recording telling you what to do if you need to organise a large animal rescue. Nothing about tiny little mice.
With a heavy heart I went back outside. Sparky was hiding behind a small tree just by the greenhouse door. She saw me coming, put her finger to her lips and whispering as quiet as she could, told me that both the parents were in the greenhouse. The mother had already found the babies, burrowed into the hay and baby in mouth, carried it out of the greenhouse and behind the garden shed.
She had just disappeared back into the pot as I arrived. We watched as she reappeared, baby number two in mouth and proceeded to move that to the new nest. We watched as she did the same with the other two babies.
We were so relieved!
A couple of days later, I was in the shed, next to the greenhouse and heard a load of squeaking and scuffling. I am assuming it is our little mouse family, happily nesting behind a shelf unit in the shed.
However, the dear, sweet little buggers have made a hole in my patio umbrella, which has now been moved to the other "mouse proof" shed!
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