Wee sleekit cowerin' timorous beastie

I did a bit of weeding and clipping at the allotment and was just doing the rounds picking the produce when I decided to dig up another shaw of potatoes. I was concentrating on finding the spuds, as there weren't many of them, so didn't really notice a little handful of dried grass that I had disturbed. Then I turned it over and saw a couple of these......

I was too close to focus without my specs and the ever-chattering frontal lobes thought "Eeew! Big pink squirming grubs". But even before I'd rocked back on my heels for a better look some deeper part of the brain had sent the message "Oh! Mammals! Oh! Babies!" After looking at their Wikipedia entry, I reckon these were only a few days old.

I saw at least three of them - there may have been more. One was about a foot away with a fragment of nest material, writhing gently, paddling its impossibly tiny paws and emitting the tiniest of little squeaks. I tried my best to make a sort of hollow in the earth and gently move them all plus their heap of bedding into it. I'm afraid that when mother mouse comes back she will find the nest in a terrible state and the children all over the place, not unlike Lyra yesterday.

I have no idea if they will survive. I don't think any of them were injured, but they were extremely wee and utterly helpless. If only there had been a badge for mouse nest reconstruction that I could have gained when I was in the Brownies.