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Two creatures were stirring -- Virginia's Christmas Eve Mice

a mother deer mouse nursing babies
Wildlife Center of Virginia
a mother deer mouse nursing babies

At this time of year, many small, furry creatures are looking for warm places to nest. Sometimes they find that space in the homes of humans, which leads some people to set out traps. As it happened, two mother mice were caught in Virginia this fall, before homeowners discovered they had babies. Two of them came to the Wildlife Center of Virginia in Waynesboro from different parts of the Commonwealth, so veterinary rehabber Benjamin Cole decided to raise them together.

“They are social animals. They tend to live in colonies, especially in winter,” he explains.

The Center kept them for a month.

“When they first arrived they had their eyes closed," he recalls. "We were feeding them formula, but they develop so quickly. I believe it’s 35 days from when they are born that they reach sexual maturity.”

And, as it happened, they were ready for release on Christmas Eve. Cole thinks they’ll stay together and go looking for a colony to call their own. In winter, he says, all wild mice find it convenient to live in groups.

”During breeding you don’t have to go out and find a partner. If one finds access to food, that means the entire group does,

And, he says, by huddling together, mice create a little tiny sauna and act as heating pads for one another.

To watch video of a previous deer mouse release go to
https://www.wildlifecenter.org/critter-corner/patient-updates/deer-mouse-16-0185-and-babies-release

Sandy Hausman is Radio IQ's Charlottesville Bureau Chief