A magnificent miniature mouse kingdom has been lovingly crafted in a York garden.
Christie Barnes, from New Earswick, created the tiny kingdom after she became fascinated with the small creatures during the pandemic.
What began with leaving out nuts to attract mice and voles, soon developed into a full-blown architectural project. Now, Christie regularly restocks a castle and adjoining dollhouse for her tiny guests.
“During lockdown I was feeding the birds and discovered that mice were feeding off the bird feeders, which I thought was cute and so it went a bit further.
“I bought hamster houses for them and fast forward four or five years, it’s become an entire doll’s house castle, with tunnels, garden lights, plants and everything else,” Christie told YorkMix.
No expense has been spared, with the space being redecorated seasonally or to mark special occasions.
“I’m in a community production at the Theatre Royal, so I’ve turned it into a rehearsal studio with a director, a crocheted mouse and a director’s table.
“I’ve taped the floor like they do in rehearsals, and obviously added a little coffee station, because there’s always a little coffee station,” she explained.
One recent design featured a luxurious bedroom for the mice, complete with a chandelier, velour furnishings, and even a battery powered fireplace.
There was also a miniature darts board, just in case the residents got bored.
To observe the mice in action, Christie has fitted three cameras, allowing her to watch the mice turn their tiny house into a home.
“In the mornings I used to scroll on Facebook, but now I’ll wake up, have a coffee, and scroll on the camera to see who’s been visiting, what’s been going on and who’s been having an argument.
“I’ll do the same on an evening, just check in and see what’s going on,” she added.
The castle often houses up to four mice at a time, and according to Christie, they can be quite demanding.
“They’re drama queens, if I haven’t fed them they’ll come up to the camera and they’ll give me this particular look and a little paw, or they’ll start climbing the ceiling.”
Christie has even started to recognise individual mice by their appearances and personalities, and some now have names.
“I’ve started noticing their characteristics. There’s one tiny one who, when you look at him from the front, looks like Batman because of his ears. So he’s called Baby Batman.
“Chip is a bigger mouse, I named him after the character from Beauty and the Beast because he’s been in a fight and one of his ears has a massive chip in it.
“The rest are all the cute babies, and there are two voles, but I can’t tell them apart,” she said.
Looking ahead, Christie plans to give the mouse-house a seaside-inspired makeover for the summer.
Friends and family often give her mini items to incorporate into the decor, and she recently received a mini deck chair.
“A seaside theme would be nice, anything to try and get those mice to relax!” she joked.
You can keep up with the mouse-house via Instagram, here.