Get all your news in one place.

100’s of premium titles.
One app.

Start reading

Get all your news in one place.

100’s of premium titles. One news app.

Start reading

Bored Panda

Simon Dell

I Started Building Tiny Homes For Wild Mice, Now They Have A Halloween Village (29 Pics)

Hello, my name is Simon Dell, a 50-year-old grandfather from Sheffield, UK, and I created a small village in my garden for wild mice to call home. Each year, we celebrate Halloween in our own little way. The mice have many little homes, all handmade by me, often from recycled materials. Here are just some of the fun images I have captured of the wild mice as they get into the Halloween spirit. I hope you enjoy them, and be sure to pop over and visit us on Facebook at “George the Mouse in a Log Pile House.”

All the mice are 100% wild and free, and over time, they have gotten used to me being around as they know I bring peanuts and seeds. I started the mouse village back in 2018, and it has grown from a small log-pile family of mice to a whole village with buildings of all shapes and sizes, such as shops, pubs, a bookstore, a schoolhouse, a bakery, and even a church and train station. Mice are such smart little creatures, and they feature in many of the childhood stories we all loved. Watching them each day is a pure joy, and my grandchildren love to play around the mouse village and watch the mice going about their lives in their little homes.

More info: Facebook | Instagram | x.com | youtube.com | tiktok.com

#1 Mother Mouse Taking Her Baby Trick-Or-Treating

Many people ask why I started a mouse village. Well, it all started in 2018. I had just begun getting into photography to help deal with my depression, to give me a reason to get out of the house, and maybe meet new people. My wife and I would travel all over the local Peak District in search of things to photograph, and on the days we couldn’t get out, I would sit in the garden taking photos of birds or other wildlife. Even then, I would use little props or quirky handmade bird tables when photographing birds.

Then, one day, as I was sitting on the patio after just mowing the lawn, I noticed movement in the freshly cut grass. I grabbed my camera and zoomed in, and there he was—George the Mouse—a lone little male house mouse in grass that was a little taller than he was. As I started to take photos, he stood up on his back legs like a little meerkat and looked over towards me. I thought he would run away, but he didn’t. He stood there for some time, checking me out. I posted the photos in some Facebook groups, and everyone loved them.

#2 Another Pumpkin Mouse House

#3 A Grumpy Little Hobbit Mouse - "No Trick-Or-Treaters Please, All Treats Are Mine"

The following day, I placed a peanut by the fence and tree where he came out and sat, hoping he would return. And he did—again, with little fear of me, as he sat eating his peanut. That’s when I realized he must need some shelter to keep him safe from local cats. So I built a very basic little log-pile home, and the rest is history. George the Mouse went viral online, and the log pile slowly became a whole village. It’s still growing and could eventually become a town—or even a city.