My Adventure with Wild Mice Babies

Wild Mice are Just Too Cute!

Well, I have found myself with two of the cutest wild mice babies to care for. As an animal lover, there is one sad truth I have learned about myself. I am a terrible pet foster mom!

It is NOT because I don’t enjoy taking care of foster animals. There’s really nothing more rewarding than watching newborn babies or sick malnourished pets grow strong and healthy and know that I had something to do with it.

Taking care of foster pets is a wonderful experience. It is letting them go that is so darn hard.

For some reason, when the time comes to say goodbye, I turn into a paranoid clingy nutcase. All I can think is that this little creature trusts me and I am afraid to let them out of my sight.

After a million excuses, sleepless nights and even a few tears, it is usually just easier for me to keep them myself.

This time the foster animals are wild mice babies (white-footed mice or possibly deer mice) that almost ended up as kitty food for my very own Carmel Crunch.

Crunchy must have been suffering from a severe case of spring fever, because she managed to sneak outside with my dogs. Luckily I caught her before she could hurt them, but their mouse mommy and nest were nowhere to be found.

That was a few weeks ago and after a couple of scary nights (I lost one baby), we moved past the two hour feedings and now these two little buggers have learned to chow down on their own.

They have also started to run and jump and play like crazy, so I know it is probably time to release them.

And of course I really do intend to let them go, just as soon as the weather gets nice.

Oh, and I have to find the perfect place to release them first.

But just as soon as the weather gets nice and I find a new place for them, these little one are so out of here.

On the other hand, they do seem perfectly happy so maybe I should keep them here for a little while longer????

I guess I will have to let you know what happens when I finally make a decision.

Update on the Wild Mice Babies

Letting them go was extremely hard and I probably would have talked myself into keeping them if they hadn’t turned out to be a male and female. Two wild mice would be very welcome additions to our family but raising litters of babies is not really an option - especially in a house full of cats and dogs.

I even briefly thought about separating them, but mice are very social and these two are definitely the best of friends, so I knew separating them was not a good option.

Planning for their release

I do want to say that I would never recommend releasing wild mice that were hand raised as tiny babies. Baby mice that have not spent enough time with their mother or who are too dependent on humans will probably not be able to fend myself.

With my foster mice, I learned that even though they seemed weak and tiny when I found them, since they had fur and their eyes were already open, chances were good their mom had already started weaning them.

I also tried very hard to not treat them like pets. Once the hand feedings were done, the two of them no longer wanted to be picked up, so I gave them their space and didn’t try to handle them.

Building their own nest
When I first found the wild mice I put dirt and leaves in their cage so they would be comfortable walking on the ground. However, I wanted them to be comfortable so I also put some soft bedding on one side with a fuzzy sock on top.

They absolutely loved that sock and even though they checked out all of the logs and huts that I added later, they completely ignored the tissue I gave them to shred for bedding.

I knew if they couldn’t build their own nest there was no way I could set them free. So, feeling like a big meany, I temporarily took away their sock. That very night they chewed up all the tissue and created a very comfy looking nest inside a hut I had made out of a plastic bowl. What a relief!


The Mouse Release Shelter

The wild mice were ready to go, but I was still nervous about setting them free.

Then, while searching the net, I found plans for a mouse release shelter at www.mouseranch.com. I can't say enough good things about this site. It's filled with so much information and it's obviously written by someone who loves mice and is very knowledgeable about them.

The mouse release plans are amazing and have a lot of safety features built in.

The entrance holes are small enough so that anything larger than a mouse will probably not be able to get inside. The entrance/exits have also been designed so that the mice are protected whenever they leave or enter the shelter.

Inside the shelter there’s an area for the mice to sleep and a food pantry that potentially stores enough food for a week (for up to 4 mice). This gives the mice time to get settled into their new home.

The shelter also fits right inside an aquarium, which is great because it gives the mice a chance to get used to the shelter before they’re released.

The supplies cost us about $8.00 at Menards and my husband, Jeff, who is very crafty, put the shelter together in about an hour. You can see pictures of it below.

Having the shelter gave me the extra confidence I needed to release the mice. I picked a time when we were supposed to have several days of nice weather. Not surprising for Michigan, the forecast changed the day after the mice were released and suddenly it was supposed to rain every day. Luckily, it rained all around us but our area stayed dry for five days straight. Someone must have been looking out for these little ones!

I chose to put the shelter (with the wild mice inside) under a huge pine tree in my back yard since that’s where I think they originally came from. The limbs of the pine reach the ground so it offers a lot of protection, plus I just feel better having them close by so I can keep an eye on things.

So far, I haven’t seen the mice, but I have seen evidence that they’re still around. There are bits of bedding and seed shells that keep showing up around the shelter. I know that life can dangerous for mice, but I feel good knowing they have a lot of advantages.

In spite of what some people think, they are also extremely clean. They groom themselves often and my foster mice never went potty on their bedding. In fact, they actually used one corner to do all their business so cleaning the cage was a breeze.

If you’re looking for a great pet that’s fairly easy and inexpensive to care for, you might want to think about getting mice. If you do, I hope you’ll consider adopting them instead of buying them from a pet store. Just like dogs and cats, there are lots of homeless mice looking for good homes.

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