Most tennis players and clubs, often have an abundance of tennis balls laying around. They end up throwing them away and help our land fill sites fill up with more stuff that could be put to better use. Have you ever thought of a better use for old tennis balls? Once again, at the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT) site, they will be using old tennis balls to house harvest mice. John Crooks, mammal manager came up with the idea and it was a great success. The site is at Slimbridge Wetland Centre in Gloustershire and they are hoping for further success, this year. A small hole, about the size of a ten pence piece ,has been cut into the tennis balls, then a small amount of bedding straw is added. Harvest mice are the smallest rodents in the UK, when fully grown they measure two inches and live high above the ground. So, the tennis balls are then stuck up in branches of a tree to simulate their nest. Harvest mice breed between May and September and can have up to 6 in a litter. The numbers dropped off a few years ago but, this initiative should see the numbers increase, once again.
Making new home comfortable
Give it a go and see what animals you can attract to your garden and ease the pressure on landfill sites.
A mouse finds its new home.
Making new home comfortable
