By News18
Ever wondered what happens to the tennis balls that are employed at one of the sport鈥檚 most prestigious events, Wimbledon, after it鈥檚 done and dusted? According to an estimate, about 55,000 tennis balls are bought each year for multiple games held at the event.
Here鈥檚 the interesting part: Once Wimbledon concludes, these tennis balls are repurposed into a small safe house for mice.
While many of the tennis balls used at Wimbledon are sold on-site to raise charity funds for the Wimbledon Foundation, the All England Lawn Tennis Club uses quite a few of the rest of the fuzzy green orbs to support British wildlife and the environment by providing a small house for mice around.
These used balls are donated to the Wildlife Trusts, a grassroots movement of 46 independent charities working to safeguard animals and wildlife. What the organisation does later on is to transform these tennis balls into homes for the harvest mouse, one of the UK鈥檚 smallest and most vulnerable animal species.
The tiny mouse that measures around 5 to 7 centimetres and weighs only about 4 to 6 grams uses the tennis balls smashed by some of the finest tennis players at Wimbledon as their alternate home. The harvest mouse typically makes its nest in long grasslands, hedgerows and farmland.
However, their natural habitat has reduced over a period of time due to modern agricultural practices, making them vulnerable and one of the animal species prioritised in the UK Post-2010 Biodiversity Framework.
In the wild, the harvest mouse weaves intricate spherical nests. The tennis ball thus fits perfectly to act as a safe house for these mice due to its shape and size, offering a perfect shelter for the little mammals. Especially the female ones, helping them protect their young ones from predators.
Wimbledon鈥檚 tennis balls initiative with the Wildlife Trusts has been operational for the last 15 years as the event organisers play their part in strengthening efforts towards wildlife protection. Other green initiatives of Wimbledon involve providing reusable water bottles for players to reduce plastic waste.