Mouse thrill for kids
AN encounter with wildlife can be thrilling whatever your age, but especially so when you’re a child.
One of my earliest memories is standing in my back garden, watching a wood mouse clamber up the stem of a strawberry plant, hang upside down and pluck a tiny piece of fruit. This was the first of many wildlife encounters that enriched my childhood and awakened a curiosity in the natural world that is still strong over 20 years later.
So a few weeks ago, while at a forest school session, it brought me great pleasure when a child spotted a mouse in the bushes. The rest of the group came over and we all watched the mouse clean its whiskers.
The children were intrigued by the mouse’s long back feet and big eyes. One little girl was initially horrified, saying that she was scared of mice, but as she watched the little creature minding its own business, she softened and decided that, actually, it was quite cute.
The wood mouse is dark brown, with a pale white belly and big ears that distinguish it from the house mouse. It is the most common of the British mouse species, with an estimated population of more than 40 million in the UK. Despite its name, it’s not particularly fussy about where it lives, and can be found in woodland, grassland, gardens and even sand dunes.
On top of this, females are able to have up to six litters a year, of four to nine pups each. Lots of people are squeamish about mice, and may be horrified to learn that the wood mouse is a widespread and prolific breeder, but it plays its part in our ecosystem and it plays it well.
Many predators rely on the wood mouse as a source of food, including foxes, weasels and owls. Domestic cats are also a big threat. As a result of their low place in the food chain, most wood mice don’t live longer than a year in the wild. Tawny owls have even been known to avoid breeding if wood mouse numbers are low.
After a minute or so, the wood mouse in our forest school realised that it was being watched and scurried off into the brambles.
The children then had lots of questions about the mouse. We talked about the types of food mice eat in the woods (fruit, seeds, fungi, centipedes) and which animals eat them. Afterwards, some of the children were inspired to make some little nests that the mouse could use as hiding places from predators.
It’s so important that children have positive experiences in nature from an early age if they’re going to grow up caring for wildlife and wanting to protect it.
This is especially significant for children living in industrial areas, where it’s easy to feel disconnected from the natural world. That’s why we run our Forest School project – to give urban children opportunities to discover for themselves how fun and interesting nature can be.
To find out more about the Forest School Project, supported by players of People’s Postcode Lottery, visit: https://www.lancswt. org.uk/forest-schools-manchester or email mtoal@lancswt.org.uk.
All of our Forest School work is supported by players of People’s Postcode Lottery. To date, players have raised more than £330m for good causes, as 32 per cent of the lottery is put towards charitable funds and good causes like Lancashire Wildlife Trust.