Strange title I know, but having that little mouse on my hand reminded me of when I re-utilized my old fish tank and made it into a hospital for a little mouse I'd rescued....

About 6 years ago, I could hear a kerfuffle out in the hall and I went out to see what was going on and there was one very frightened little mouse trying to avoid two cats who wanted to play............. so I picked him up and his little heart was going like the clappers - poor little thing.

I put him in a box with tissues and some cotton wool and a cap off a bottle for some water and just let him calm down. Meanwhile I looked around for something more suitable for him. The only thing I could see was a fish tank that was obsolete at the time.



As you can see, it needed cleaning up and sorting out. When it was all nice and clean, I put some sawdust in one column and an old flower pot on its side with some cotton wool inside, so the little thing could have somewhere to sleep. As you can see there are two columns joining the two tanks. I put some broken off twigs in propped up against each hole so that he could access each tank either way. In the other tank I put some more sawdust in it and then two small plates one with some catfood and the other one with some water.

I felt quite happy with this and so if the little mouse survived the night, then I'd put him in it to recover from his ordeal.

The next morning, he was still alive and so I put him in my mouse hospital. I called him Harry and he was really cute. He stayed there 6 weeks and used to spend loads of time running up the twigs and through the columns - I also put in odd little things like some material to hide under, some leaves, also some seeds according to the internet he would like.

Someone came to visit and when they saw the mouse, told me that it would be better for him to be outside - so with a heavy heart I took Harry out and let him free in the garden. He didn't want to leave my hand to start with but eventually he did venture into the garden.

The next day I found little Harry lying on the path - next door's cat had got him. So I really wish I'd kept him safe in the hospital.