A young wood mouse has been filmed enjoying a bath in a milk bottle top while in care at Vale Wildlife Hospital near Tewkesbury. The mouse was one of four orphaned siblings the hospital took in.
The four were dug up in a garden in October. They were hand-reared on a special milk formula, and all four recovered and were released back into the wild together.
From garden to wild again
Wood mice are a common sight in the countryside, but they are rarely seen up close. The hospital’s footage shows the mouse in a small milk-top bath, a simple way of giving a tiny animal a drink and a wash while it is in care.
Its siblings were looked after alongside it, and the whole group was released together once they were ready to cope on their own.
If you find a young wild animal
Anyone who finds an injured or orphaned wild animal is advised to contact a local wildlife rescue for advice before trying to look after it themselves. Young animals often need specialist feeding, and what seems kind at first can do harm.
