Mice living in adorable Hobbit-style hand-crafted model village become YouTube stars

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Take a look inside this adorable mini village a man made to attract mice into his garden - complete with log cabins, post boxes and dining tables.

Video shows what life is like in this quirky mini-village, which has all been hand-crafted in a back garden. Simon Dell began making the mini Shire in spring 2018 when he spotted a wild mouse and wanted to protect it from nearby cats.

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Protecting mice from predators

The photographer started the project 6 years ago, when he piled some small logs around a box as a home for the mouse and covered it with moss and straw to give him a little shelter. He added some wire fencing around the fence so there was no way the cats could get to the mouse - and even gave him a name - George.

Simon Dell with the mice houses he has created in his garden in Sheffield, South Yorkshire. Simon Dell with the mice houses he has created in his garden in Sheffield, South Yorkshire.
Simon Dell with the mice houses he has created in his garden in Sheffield, South Yorkshire. | SWNS.com

Creative garden project

As more mice entered the garden, the wildlife photographer began adding more to the tiny houses, fashioning detailed dining tables, washing lines, motorbikes and even a weights set for the adorable rodents.

Social media sensation

Simon said: "The mice seem to love the log pile homes and wasted no time in moving in.” He sits a couple feet away with a zoom lens, as they pop in and out of the tiny huts - and has become a social media sensation with over 152k followers.

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50 year old Simon documents daily village activities across his social media channels (George the Mouse in a log pile house). He said: "Without photography and the fun of making little things for little things, I could soon sink back in to deep depression.

"Photography gave me a reason to get up and out again and the mouse village gave me back my smile. I hope it gives others the same joy it gives me."

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