Welsh tidy mouse - 26th January 2024

A houseproud rodent has been caught on camera tidying a garden shed. The shed’s owner, Rodney Holbrook, was alerted to the tiny tidier after peanuts he kept in a box to feed the garden birds had started disappearing.

Rodney Holbrook: “I noticed the nuts that was in the box that I had in there had suddenly disappeared. And I thought well I haven’t used them to feed the birds. So I thought I’ll put some nuts back in again. Next morning, the nuts were gone again. Strange. Someone’s pinching the peanuts.”

Eager to solve the mystery, Holbrook, an amateur wildlife photographer, decided to set up a night vision camera trap to film any movement, hoping to identify the thief.

Rodney Holbrook: “When I looked at the uh– at the videos I captured, I thought that is amazing. Even though I’d seen it before, similar to it in uh, in uh, 2019. I could not believe this is happening again. I really could not. It was amazing.”

Amazingly, this wasn’t Holbrook’s first encounter with an orderly rodent. A few years ago, while living in England, he’d filmed another mouse getting up to similar antics in a friend’s shed. To distinguish the two diligent, tiny creatures Holbrook gave his new discovery the nickname “The Welsh Tidy Mouse”.

The little Welsh wood mouse is assiduous in its duties. It doesn’t miss a night - picking up clothes pegs, putting away cable ties, stacking scraps of paper and instilling order back on the workbench. But why is this nocturnal neat freak so intent on the task?

Rodney Holbrook: “It’s picking up all the items on the deh- on the uh, on the uh top there, to hide the nuts. Hide the peanuts. I think it’s, it’s actually just hiding them from any other mice. So he, he’s kinda saying that’s mine peanuts. So you’re not– no one else is having them.”

The Welsh Tidy Mouse video’s captured the attention of media outlets around the world and Mr and Mrs Holbrook are soaking up their moment in the spotlight. But what of the timid tidier? Is it being rewarded for its special cleaning services?

Rodney Holbrook: “It’s a bit of a joke to say this, but I pay him peanuts. Which ain’t a lot. But I pay him peanuts.”