As the sun went down, Evelyn was getting very concerned about the baby mice in their nest out in our lawn. The National Weather Service has issued a frost warning for our area tonight. Evelyn was concerned about them freezing to death overnight, especially because it appears the mother has abandoned them. I told her to find a shoe box and bring them in the house.
When she brought them in, all five baby mice were still alive but very cold and lethargic. I think they were suffering from hypothermia. Erin and Evelyn held them in their hands for quite a while to warm them up. Eventually they became more active and started nuzzling into their fingers looking for something to eat.
After watching several YouTube videos, it was time to try feeding them. First, Evelyn offered them warmed milk from a syringe. That didn't work very well. Next, she tried dipping a cotton string in the milk and letting them suck the milk off the string. This worked better than the syringe. Finally, she dipped a small paint brush in the milk. This worked the best.Evelyn decided to add cream to the milk. The new formula, along with the new paint brush "bottle" was a success. All five mice have round, full little tummies and are now sound asleep.
They will need to be fed every 3-4 hours in these first days. Our guess is they are only a couple days old. One of them still has a bit of umbilical cord attached, their eyes aren't open, and they don't have much fur yet.
Erin and Evelyn are heading to bed with an alarm set for 2:00 a.m. to get up for the next feeding. Say a little pray that these sweet little rodents will make it through the night and maybe even longer. It's a great project for my little naturalist!
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