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The advent of mammal-resistant fences has allowed multi-species eradications of mammals from ecosanctuaries on the New Zealand mainland. However, maintaining eradication of house mice (Mus musculus) has proven difficult, and at some fenced reserves they are the only exotic mammal present and reach a high population density. Over 5 years we examined the impacts of mice alone on biodiversity at Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari by comparing forest blocks with relatively high and low numbers of mice. We managed two independently fenced sites within the sanctuary to achieve high mouse numbers (up to 46 per hectare) at one site and undetectable mouse numbers at the second site. We then reversed these treatments by eradicating mice from the first site and allowing their numbers to increase at the second. We found strong evidence that mice reduced the abundance of ground-dwelling …