Image: Wild Pets/ Youtube
Because changes to farming and land management have reduced their available habitat, the Mammal Society classes them as Near Threatened across Great Britain,. Harvest mice are Britain’s smallest rodents, known for weaving intricate nests among tall grasses and other vegetation. The mice depend on vegetation that provides food, shelter and nesting sites, which makes them vulnerable when field margins are altered or removed.
The earlier release has already shown encouraging signs: the following winter, Wishart and Smith found five maternity nests at the site, showing the mice had survived and begun reproducing.
Two 14-year-old conservationists in Devon, England, are inviting children to take part in an unusual wildlife project: raising tiny harvest mice at home before releasing them into the wild. Eva Wishart and Emily Smith, who bred mice in their garages and bedrooms before releasing 250 of them, are expanding their initiative, called Wild Pets, by recruiting 20 Devon-based children aged 8 to 13. The project aims to release 250 harvest mice into the wild by September 2027.
Participants will receive a pair of mice and all necessary equipment after a training day next spring at Rewilding Coombeshead, and will breed the animals with guidance. Applications are made through wild-pets.org.