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Meet the kids starting a team-up to support harvest mice

Two photos cut out and stuck next to each other - one of a harvest mouse, one of two girls smiling wearing t-shirts that say Wild PetsImage source, Getty Images/BBC
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Eva and Emily have been helping to restore harvest mice to the wild for the last three years

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The Avengers and the Gladiators have got a brand new super team to contend with - with a very important mission.

Last year, Devon teenagers Eva and Emily began their mouse-saving mission as they bred and released 250 harvest mice into the wild.

Well now they're recruiting more children to join them as part of a team called Wild Pets.

They're looking for 20 other nature-loving kids from across Devon to help them bring up more harvest mice to release into the wild next year.

A tiny harvest mouse nest, made from twigs
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Harvest mice nest in these tiny little homes

So what kind of qualities do you need to be part of the Wild Pets project?

Children aged between 8 and 13 can apply, and Emily says they'll need to be "very passionate" about the environment.

But she says they'll be providing "very clear instructions about how to look after these mice... we'll be on the phone pretty much 24/7 if they need our advice."

Alongside them are professional ecologists from Derek Gow's Species Recovery Centre.

Emily says the mice "need a surprising amount of responsibility for tiny beings!"

A girl putting some sweetcorn into a box where her harvest mice live
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Eva says that bringing up harvest mice "does take responsibility but it is definitely worth the sacrifice"

Harvest mice are Britain's smallest rodent, who grow to about 5 to 7cm.

That's about half as long as the size of a standard pencil you might use in school.

They're classed as near threatened by The Mammal Society across Great Britain (England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland), with England as the area of least concern.

Eva says: "It's about creating a network of children all across the county, so instead of them having sad hamsters and goldfish in little cages and bowls, they'll breed native endangered British wildlife like harvest mice."

Good luck Emily and Eva!