Blog: New Year, New Nests

New Year's resolutions come in many sizes. Catherine Doherty, Woburn Safari Park and the BIAZA Harvest Mouse Focus Group, on a new beginning for harvest mouse conservation, and how you can help:

The 1st of January signals many firsts, the first day of the New Year, the first opportunity for new challenges and the first opportunity to find one of the smallest rodents in Britain’s home, a harvest mouse nest.

On a cold crisp winter morning, I love nothing more than putting on my walking boots and heading out on the hunt for signs of these tiny mammals.

The Harvest mouse is on the red list for British mammals and is therefore classified as Near Threatened in Britain. This means they are at risk of extinction from our hedgerows, long tussocky grasslands, farmland, woodland edges and reedbeds.

Unfortunately we are unsure how bad their current situation is, as we don’t have very good estimates on numbers of wild harvest mice, therefore it is tricky to put in place any conservation action plans at present.

This is why BIAZA needs your help! We have an incredible 131 member zoos and aquariums that could lend their expertise and resources to a high value conservation initiative. The UK mammal society is currently overseeing a 5-year harvest mouse nest-surveying project but sadly, volunteers have dwindled in recent years.

The amazing success of BIAZA Spotted on Site shows what a fantastic community we have and wouldn’t it be great to find a Harvest mouse nest on your own site or on local public land nearby? I can honestly say there is nothing quite like finding your very first wild harvest mouse nest. To know the presence of this charismatic native species has been nearby all along is a joy.

Since early 2023, the team at Woburn Safari Park has participated in the Mammal Society’s National Harvest Mouse Survey. This was not an easy task as harvest mice nests are hidden well amongst tall grass, but luckily volunteers were eagle eyed and up for the challenge. The team were pleased to survey eight new areas for the county, discovering six harvest mouse nests, two of which were found close to home.

Last season Woburn provided a significant number of the counties finds, showing every little really does help. This season we have found three nests across two sites so far but it is early days so even more reason to get back out there.

Helping to understand local harvest mouse distribution was a welcomed opportunity for the team at Woburn too, seeing as this species is so close to our heart, as we care for a number of captive harvest mice housed at the park.

However, you do not have to care for little captive harvest mice if you want to make a big difference.

BIAZA’s Harvest Mouse Focus Group (HMFG) are encouraging all BIAZA members, zoos, aquariums, safari parks, whether or not you care for captive harvest mice to get involved with surveying for harvest mice nests both on your own site and / or on local public land and contribute to native conservation.

So, if you are looking for a New Year’s resolution why not help on your local patch keep your eyes peeled for more information on a brand new BIAZA campaign and excellent possible CPD training coming soon about how you can help!

Happy hunting, we wish you all the best luck!

- Catherine Doherty​​​​, Head of Section, Animal Encounters - Woburn Safari Park. BIAZA Mammal Working Group Small Mammal Subgroup‑Co‑Chair. BIAZA Species Monitor for Eurasian harvest mice (Micromys minutus)

All blogs reflect the views of their author and are not necessarily a reflection of BIAZA's positions