During the week we went out to check on the lily beetles and harvest some fresh rhubarb for a spring crumble. And we spotted a tiny little wood mouse – one on the path and the other a veritable king in the castle, peeking out from the very top of a leaf composter. Very cute and very tiny! No bigger than my thumb.

The little guy on the path was hopping along with big huge feet, which helped to identify these little critters as ‘field’ or ‘wood’ mice – as distinct from house mice. To find out more about types of mice in the UK see the Woodlands Trust identication guide.

Tres cute!

In the UK Wood Mice do not hibernate and can live up to 3 years. Due to so many predators they tend to live only a year, but these little critters have plenty of nestling spaces providing safe mouse houses. We decided not to dump the kitchen waste slops on his head, but I did place a nice chunk of cucumber in at the top of his composter castle to give him a tasty nibble.