Tennis Balls = Homes for Harvest Mice
Photo courtesy of James Lees
While only new balls will do for the players about to do battle on Wimbledon’s courts, old ones are making perfect nest houses for the tiny mice at WWT Slimbridge Wetland Centre.
Staff at the Centre in Gloucestershire hope it will boost the numbers of mice living in its wetland mammal area.
“I have cut small penny sized holes in the balls and put straw inside and they seem to be taking very well to them. We have about 30 in our collection here and we are hoping that the tennis balls will make them feel secure so that they breed well this year.” John Crooks, mammal manager, explained.
“A few years ago numbers of the mice in the wild did fall but they are starting make a come back as they many populations have moved to new nesting sites such as hedgerows and wetlands.”
Photo courtesy of James Lees
Their breeding season is from May to September and they tend to have litters of four to six young. In the wild they weave circular nests out of grasses and attach them to stems high above the ground.
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