Harvest Mice Have Been Reintroduced To This London Forest For The First Time In 45 Years

These adorable Harvest Mice have been introduced to Perivale Wood for the first time in 45 years, having been previously extinct in the area.

Jack Saddler - Editor • 29 April, 2024

Harvest Mouse climbing up a blade of grass — Credit: David Parry/PA Media Assignments

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Should you be wondering through West London’s Perivale Wood on a bright spring morning, you may catch a glimpse of something scuttling through bushes. Though you might not dwell on this sighting for long, it could be you coming face-to-face, eyes-to-eyes with a (frankly, pretty adorable) Harvest Mouse.

They’ve just been reintroduced to Perivale Wood Local Nature Reserve for the first time in 45 years, having been extinct in the area prior to this. It’s part of the wider ‘Bringing Harvest Mice Back To Ealing’ rewilding project, and also comes after the project to bring beavers back into the wild in West London.

Harvest Mice being reintroduced to bluebell-kissed Perivale Wood for the first time in 45 years — *Credit: David Parry/PA Media Assignments*

The hope is that the reintroduction of the species will also be helpful in improving the habitats of other species. At the reserve, there is ancient woodland and neutral grassland, which makes for a huge diversity of animal and plant species in the area.

Specific parts of the meadows are set aside to create wildlife corridors for the Harvest Mice as well as other small mammals, and there will be ungrazed grass here to provide shelter for them. Visitors also may notice a new pond beside the existing larger pond, which will develop over time to form reed bed areas which is also a habitat that the mice will take to.

Harvest Mouse pictured with a child in the reeds — Credit: David Parry/PA Media Assignments

Perivale Wood is the second-oldest nature reserve in the whole of the UK, and was the last spot where a Harvest Mouse was spotted in Ealing, all the way back in 1979. 150 Harvest Mice have now been reintroduced to Perivale Wood Local Nature Reserve, which becomes the fifth site in Ealing where the harvest mice have been introduced in the project.

This project comes in conjunction with London Wildlife Trust through funding from the Mayor of London and the Amazon Right Now climate fund, and brings the Mayor’s total spend for rewilding London to more than £2.4 million.

Harvest Mouse being held by a child — Credit: David Parry/PA Media Assignments

Speaking on the news, David Mooney, CEO at London Wildlife Trust said: “London Wildlife Trust is proud to support this excellent project to reintroduce the iconic harvest mice into Perivale Wood, Ealing. The wildlife corridors created through habitat improvements will crucially link new and existing populations, helping to bolster the species’ resilience in the Borough.”