A man, a little mouse house, and impact on mental health? A little over five years ago, a British man named Simon Dell found little mice in his backyard and decided to make a little house for them. The little house didn’t just keep the mice safe from the cats, it helped Dell with his mental health. He had been struggling with depression for years, the mouse house gave him a new purpose and daily joy. Since then, he has attracted more mice to the luxury mouse town, constructed from recycled materials and repurposed trash.

       Dell documents daily village activities across his social media channels called George the Mouse in a log pine house with an impressive following of 150,000. “Without photography, and the fun of making little things for little things, I could soon sink back into deep depression,” said Dell. “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.” 

Back in 2018, Dell recalls sitting in his garden in South Yorkshire when he “could see cats sitting just feet away from this little mouse at the other side of a fence.” 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, and to keep the cats away there is wire fencing. After building a shelter for the mouse, which he named George, he began adding more homes next door. Within days, a few mice friends had moved in, looking to get-in on the creature comforts. Then he began adding little details to the tiny houses, fashioning dining tables and giving them props for hobbies like painting, boating, gardening, and photography. 

Today, Dell says that there are around 20 mice, with two family groups, indicating that a lot has changed in the village. “The only limit is my own imagination and skills at making the buildings as everything is made by hand from recycled bits of wood, old logs, or just about anything I can find in skips or the trash that could be given a new life. They have two of my old boots converted into mouse homes and lots of other types of homes scattered around the village. In fact, they have just about everything you would find in a village or even a town.” He had plans to add a train station, cafe, and a theater. Dell says that the mouse village has given him and many of his followers immense joy amidst personal struggles. “As I have always suffered with depression, insomnia, and anxiety, they are always there to support me in good or bad times and many find my photos and videos help make them smile daily and lift their moods. That has always been my goal to make others smile along with keeping my mind and body active.” 

 Thanks to Simon Dell, the mice got a village to keep safe from the cat. Thanks to the mice, Dell is smiling again. Dell would keep on making more little things for the mice just to be happy. You can follow his account @the_photography_of_simon_dell on Instagram. 

Hailey Veal, Staff Writer

Hailey Veal is a staff writer for 2023-2024 Colonel Newsmagazine. She likes to draw, bake, go mountain biking, archery, play card and board games, Disney and Marvel movies, and animals.