Every year, an astonishing number of tennis balls are used during the Wimbledon tournament — more than 54,000. This high figure is due to the fact that tennis balls are replaced at frequent intervals during a match to make sure they aren’t worn down or become too warm to affect the ball’s physical dynamics. Used balls are resold every day at the club to spectators on the grounds, and nearly 700 balls go missing every year, probably taken by the audience and kept as souvenirs. Since 2001, some of these balls are being donated to various animals conservatives around Britain who make cute little homes for harvest mice.

The Eurasian harvest mouse is typically found in fields of cereal crops, such as wheat and oats, in reed beds and in other tall ground vegetation, such as long grass. An adult mouse weighs as little as 4 grams. The mice normally weave their homes out of shredded grass and reeds, attached to stems well above the ground.

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