A harvest mouse spotted crossing the road by staff at one of the UK’s most southerly wind farms has been named Rabbie in honour of Scottish poet Robert Burns.

The juvenile rodent was spotted at Carland Cross windfarm, close to the A30 near Truro, by ScottishPower Renewables’ on-site ecology team shortly before Burns Night (January 25).

It was nesting close to the control building where staff manage and monitor the habitat creation on the renewable development site.

A follow-up survey conducted by Cornwall Mammal Group found four nests, indicating the tiny mammal is thriving in the grassland verges among the site’s 10 turbines.

ScottishPower Renewables ecologist Glenn Norris said: “Given the harvest mouse is Europe’s smallest mammal, and the one at Carland Cross is a juvenile, it certainly seems to fit with the Robert Burns poem ‘To a mouse’, in which he talks about a ‘wee tim’rous beastie’. We think his nickname suits him well.”

Mr Norris added: “Harvest mice live in a variety of habitats, including grasslands, hedgerows, reedbeds, and farmland. However, we often see windfarm tracks add ecological complexity to habitats, benefitting the plants and insects that provide food for this particular species of mouse.

“It’s really great to see the harvest mouse population thriving here among the other wildlife we’ve got on site. We’ll be continuing to support the work of Cornwall Mammal Group, who are using their findings from the surveys on our site to develop their map of harvest mouse distribution across the county.”

The harvest mouse weighs the same as a 2p piece, and is the only UK mammal to have an entirely prehensile tail which it uses as an extra limb to hold on to grass stems. It is listed as a ‘Species of Principal Importance’ under Section 41 of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities (NERC) Act 2006.