Orphaned Mice Enlist The Help Of Kind Humans To Rescue Them

Recently, three small but mighty mice needed a little help. They were alone, left to fend for themselves. So, they waited, hoping someone would notice them. Thankfully, someone did — and just in time.

“There was no mother around, and [the Good Samaritan] found the three orphaned mice in a hay bale,” Ashley Kinney, hospital manager for the Wildlife Center of Silicon Valley, told The Dodo. “They were cold, lethargic and very hungry.”

The Good Samaritan who discovered the mice took them to the rehabilitation center in Saratoga, California, for further care.

After a little rest and a few solid meals, all three mice are doing great.

“They are thriving in care,” Kinney said. “We currently have them housed in a small terrarium with a large variety of natural food available. Since they are still young, we are also supplementing with a species-specific formula until they are fully weaned on solid food.”

Western harvest mice are native to most of the western United States, and their diet consists of seeds, grains and sometimes the occasional insect. But due to their size, Kinney said they weren’t yet ready to be on their own.

“[They’ll] be in our rehabilitation program until they are fully self-sufficient and able to survive in the wild,” Kinney said. “Once they are ready for release, we will take them back to their finding location and set them free.”
 

In the meantime, the mice will be dreaming up ways to harvest even more when they’re finally big enough to do so.