‘House-proud mouse’ caught on camera cleaning garden shed

By Emilia Bruce-Watt via SWNS

A homeowner puzzled as to who was mysteriously tidying up his garden shed late at night was astonished to find the culprit was a HOUSE-PROUD MOUSE.

Stephen Mckears, 72, noticed objects moving in his shed, so he asked his neighbor Rodney Holbrook, 70, to help him get to the bottom of the mystery.

The retired electrician noticed plastic clips appearing in an old ice cream tub filled with peanuts, which he keeps to feed the birds.

Then more objects began to accumulate.

Questioning his sanity, Stephen emptied the tub each night, scattering the nuts and bolts across his shed, only to discover the mess had been cleared by the morning.

After weeks of finding large screws, plastic leads, nuts and bolts neatly filed away, the pair decided to set up a trail camera to uncover the mystery guest.

The seniors were left baffled when the footage showed an adorable mouse busily tidying the shed – even attempting to lift objects twice his size.

Stephen, from Severn Beach, England, said: "I've been calling him Brexit Mouse because he's been stockpiling for Brexit.

"The heaviest thing was the plastic attachment at the end of a hosepipe - and the chain of an electric drill.

"I didn't know what it was at first. The kids were saying it was a ghost.

"One day I emptied the tub out and spread the contents on the side - and the next day they were all back in again. I thought I was going mad."

Rodney, who lives just a few minutes from his friend, is a keen wildlife photographer and said he had to see the DIY mouse for himself.

He said: "I've been calling him Metal Mickey but some people have been saying he's just mouse proud.

"I was quite amazed to see it - it is an amazing mouse.

"Steve asked if he could use my trail camera to film whatever it was that was moving the objects in his shed.

"The mouse was chucking things into the box - we thought it was a ghost or something at first. I thought I have to see this for myself."

The pair filmed the mouse tidying away the metal objects from around midnight to 2.30 am - an activity it has been doing every night for around a month.

Stephen added: "It was doing it for about two hours that night - he must have had to go for a sleep after it.

"I've seen a mouse moving objects to make a nest but never metal objects. It's quite amazing.

"It's still busy doing it now."