Molly is a mouse. She’s a squeaky-weaky mouse. She lives with her family. Together, they form quite a large nest – that’s the word for a group of mice! Molly is also a little mischievous. She is very playful and doesn’t always do exactly as she is told. She likes to explore and investigate the world for herself. Molly is so small that many other animals don’t even know she and her family live close to them.

Molly and her many brothers and sisters live with their parents. They keep the little mice out of trouble…most of the time! Little mice like to scurry around, play games and hide. So sometimes it can be quite difficult keeping them all in line.

 One cloudy day, Molly is running around in some grass close to their burrow with her brothers and sisters. They are looking for insects to eat. Molly has noticed that every day now seems to be cloudy where they live. And there are really loud sounds all the time too. As the young mice search for a snack, her dad appears.

“Molly, I’ve been calling you, but I don’t think you could hear.”

“No, Dad,” Molly agrees, it’s really noisy around here these days.”

“I know,” says her Dad. “Could you all come home for a minute, please? Your mum and I want to talk to you.”

Molly’s dad has a serious look on his face.

“Is everything OK?” Molly asks, a little worried.

“It will be,” her dad reassures her. “We just have some news we want to share.”

Feeling a bit calmer, Molly rounds up her siblings and together they all scuttle home. Once they arrive in the burrow, they gather around their parents. Molly’s mum squeaks to clear her throat.

“I’m afraid we’re going to have to move home,” she explains.

The little mice look at each other confused. They love their burrow, and the grass outside where they play each day.

“Has something happened?” Molly asks.

“Yes,” says Molly’s mum, looking sad, “our lovely home isn’t safe anymore. So we need to find a new one.”

“Not safe?” Molly repeats. “But why not?”

Molly’s Dad answers her.

“Over the last few years a mine has been built right here, beside us. That’s the reason there’s much less grass to play in now, and so much noise. We want to move somewhere that you little mice can have more room.”

“Where will we go?” Molly enquires.

“We’d like to go to the area on the other side of the mine,” says her mum. “Our burrow is near a cliff. Slowly, the mine is forcing us towards its edge. That could be dangerous for us all.”

“But we need to work out how to get safely to the other side of the mine first,” Molly’s dad adds.

“The constant digging produces a lot of dust, which makes it hard to see. That means it’s really risky to try and get across the mine when there are cars and trucks driving by all day and night.”

Molly now realises that the clouds she’s been seeing are caused by mining dust.

“If mining causes so many problems, why do people do it?” she wonders out loud.

“Because humans dig up metals and minerals that are worth a lot of money. And people like making money. They value that more than the wealth and resources of the natural world,” her dad explains, looking dejected.

“Oh!” Molly says, feeling disappointed. It takes her a moment to absorb this information. She wishes she could help her family.

Molly thinks about the times she has burrowed down underground into the earth when she’s playing. She’s been a bit mischievous because her parents don’t know about this. However, there is just so little grass and room to move around above ground these days. So she’d thought it would be fun. Very quickly, this causes an idea to form in her mind.

“Mum, Dad, I think I know how we can get to the other side of the mine!” she exclaims.

“Really?” her parents say together. They look hopeful.

“Sometimes,” Molly begins, “when I’ve been playing at night, I’ve burrowed down under the ground. I’ve made little tunnels. Some of them are quite long and they reach right underneath and around the mine. They’re big enough for us to crawl through.”

Molly’s parents look shocked. They don’t know whether to be happy or angry. They know Molly though, so they’re not entirely surprised.

“Can you show us?” Molly’s dad asks. Molly is relieved that she’s not in trouble.

“Of course,” she replies. “Follow me!”

So, the mouse family scurry after Molly as she leads them over and into a little hole hidden under some blades of grass. They hadn’t noticed it until now!

They all make their way in single file through the little tunnel, as it twists and turns underground. Sometimes, Molly pops her head up through a hole to see above ground. She then re-enters the tunnel, telling them to turn around and head in a different direction.

After a long while, Molly pops her head out of another hole and the mine is behind, not in front of them.

“We’re here!” she cries. Her family all follow her out into the fresh air. They look around them and can see they are surrounded by grass and lots of flowers in a beautiful field.

“Oh Molly,” says her mum, looking excited. “Thank you so much. We can use that last little bit of tunnel as our burrow for now.”

Molly’s family are all happy, but quite tired after their travels. They lie down in their new home and Molly cuddles up next to them. This burrow is as quiet as a mouse. Soon the only sounds that can be heard are the little snores of Molly’s family in a deep and peaceful sleep.

Questions for discussion

Do you know what different kinds of mines there are?

What are some of the problems mining causes for wildlife?

Can you think of any other ways we can protect animals from mining?