Chris Packham praises Devon teenagers for helping harvest mice

Wildlife television presenter Chris Packham has praised two teenagers who have been trying to increase the number of harvest mice.

Thirteen-year-olds Eva and Emily, from Devon, have been breeding harvest mice at home before releasing them back into the wild.

Mr Packham visited the girls while they were releasing mice near Tiverton and told them what they were doing was “inspirational”.

“The fact that you’re prepared to breed these in your garage and then come out here and have a go is what’s making a difference for wildlife,” he said.

Emily said the friends were delighted to be joined by the television presenter.

“He helped us release the mice, he told us about the biology of them and it was really interesting, which was really good.”

Emily started the work by keeping four breeding pairs in her bedroom.

“We had to move out to my garage because they’re very space consuming surprisingly,” said Emily.

Eva said Chris Packham “must have been excited otherwise he wouldn’t have spent an extra two hours driving to come and see, so it was amazing.”

She was inspired to give harvest mice a helping hand after a family camping trip to Derek Gow’s rewilding site in Devon.

“In August 2022 we got our first two pairs of mice but unfortunately the cat did eat three of the four mice but the fourth mouse was pregnant and had babies a couple of weeks later,” she said.

“Last year I bred around 80 and 68 of them were given to Derek Gow’s team and they got released in Cheshire … I like to think of them speaking with northern accents and living in Cheshire.”

The teenagers are hoping to track the progress of the mice by looking for their nests next year.

Eva said: “I’m really sentimental about my mice so seeing them go off into the world is like being an empty nester.”