I Built A Tiny Halloween Village For Wild Mice In My Garden (29 Pics)

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.

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.