baby mouse found

[atas]

My girlfriend found a baby 'mouse' in Camden Town (London) yesterday. It is tiny (about an inch or so long (not including the tail)). It is a greyish colour with small ears and a tail about equal in length to its body. I would say its nose is pointed but not so much that I would think it is a shrew.

It was basically dead when she found it. In fact I thought it was dead. It was on its side, eyes open, legs stiff and the mouse was showing no movement, (I could not even see a heart beat). However, at the last second it moved ever so slightly and so my girlfriend picked it up in tissue and we brought it home.

After about 15 minutes in the warmth of her hand it had come back from the dead and actually appeared quite perky. After about an hour it appeared perfectly happy and healthy. I bought a cage from a pet shop and some hamster/mouse food (which it seemed to enjoy).

This morning it appeared down but but my girlfriend has held it in her hands for a couple of hours and it seems to have perked up again. Is this just the warmth from her hands?

However, my questions are as follows. Should we release it back to the wild? Would it survive (it is sooo small)? Should we release it back in Camden (it would mean it would have another half hour tube journey for the mouse)? Would it find its mother/family again anyway? Would it survive without its mother (It cannot be much older than a few weeks)? Would it be safe to keep it as a pet? What diseases may it carry? Would a vets examination cause it unfair stress/cruelty? From my brief description above, what type of 'mouse' do you think it may be?

Any help would be much appreciated as my girlfriend is extremely worried about the young mite.......

[Jim Ford]

Originally Posted by atas

Any help would be much appreciated as my girlfriend is extremely worried about the young mite.......

Ditch the girlfriend - problem solved!
;^)

Jim

(I'm sure you'll get more considerate and helpful answers than the above!)

[Pippa]

Nurse and care for it now that you have brought it in from the wild,bought a cage and food,is my humble opinion.They don't have long lives and it will be 5star treatment with your girlfriend constantly showering it with love.If it hadn't been for her it wouldn't exist anyway.I wouldn't want to release it at this time of year and it will be difficult as it is now used to a much warmer temperature.


In your position that is what i would do.I am not saying it is necessarily right, but because i am like your girl i would have done exactly the same.

If i get shouted at, for the above from other Wabbers so be it .

[kittykat]

That was so sweet of y'all to take care of this mouse! If it is this friendly,and depending on you for survival, I would venture to guess it will need help surviving for life. I recommend three things. 1. If you have a wildlife rescue in your area, call them. They would have the best advice. 2. If you don't or you really want to keep it, do take it to a vet. You don't know what it has been exposed to. 3. If you have other pets, in the meantime keep them away from this mouse seeing as you don't know if it has anything.

[Dogghound]

It sounds like a houe mouse. It would be best if you released it back into the wild. Yes the can carry disease so beware of this. It would survive in the wild they leave their mother at about a month old. Its unfair to keep wildlife as pets, If you want a mouse go to the pet shop.

[NurseKatie]

Hi, I too have found a mouse.

I'm quite reluctant to let it go. Wild mice have a life span of only 3 months (due to preditors)

I don't know what to do!!! It seems to be getting used to me now , although I don't handle it, I just feed and water him every day.

Has anyone else kept a wild mouse as a "pet"?

Also, what do they carry??

Katie x

[Doggle Avaddit]

Originally Posted by NurseKatie

Hi, I too have found a mouse.

I'm quite reluctant to let it go. Wild mice have a life span of only 3 months (due to preditors)

I don't know what to do!!! It seems to be getting used to me now , although I don't handle it, I just feed and water him every day.

Has anyone else kept a wild mouse as a "pet"?

Also, what do they carry??

Katie x

They can carry Salmonella bacterium which might give you Salmonellosis (food poisoning) or other bacteria giving Gastro Enteritis, for example.
But many animals, including birds and your dog, will also carry this risk as the bacteria are transmitted via animal faeces in general.

Simple rule is to wash your hands properly after handling any animal or their habitat. I don't think many dog owners do, and I don't think there are legions of dog owners falling ill with these sorts of problems, so perhaps the risk is smaller than many would have us believe.

I recently tried to find out how hazardous rats and mice are with respect to transmitting diseases to humans, and couldn't find a huge amount of reliable information out there. There is plenty of disinformation or misinformed opinion, or simple over reaction.


For instance rats are often cited to be dangerous to humans because they can transmit Leptospirosis. However, this report from the Health Protection Agency

HPA - General Information on Leptospirosis

shows that less than 40 people per year are diagnosed with this disease.

Which leads me to suspect that perhaps rats and mice are unfairly targeted. But without enough reliable information, who really knows?

[Daisychain]

Originally Posted by Pippa

Nurse and care for it now that you have brought it in from the wild,bought a cage and food,is my humble opinion.They don't have long lives and it will be 5star treatment with your girlfriend constantly showering it with love.If it hadn't been for her it wouldn't exist anyway.I wouldn't want to release it at this time of year and it will be difficult as it is now used to a much warmer temperature.


In your position that is what i would do.I am not saying it is necessarily right, but because i am like your girl i would have done exactly the same.

If i get shouted at, for the above from other Wabbers so be it .

I agree with Pippa, cant help it when it comes to small furry things that need a bit of TLC..... possibly not the right thing to do, but at least its got a chance of survival with you guys. Good luck.

[atas]

An update for everyone......

Thank you for all of your responses. We actually released the mouse back into the wild. We were advised by a rescue centre that we should release it at dusk (when it wuld be hardest for a predator to see the mouse), in an area where there would be maximum places for the mouse to both find food and be able to hide/find shelter (i.e. local woodlands).

Thank you again for all of your help/responses.

[Daisychain]

Well done for doing yr bit. Fingers crossed it will survive.