View source for West Mouse

{{Short description|Island near Anglesey, Wales}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2019}}
[[Image:WestMouse.jpg|right|300px|thumb|West Mouse]]
'''West Mouse''' ({{langx|cy|'''Maen y Bugail'''}}) is an [[islet]] lying {{convert|1.1|km|mi}} off the north-west coast of [[Anglesey]], [[Wales]]. Its maximum dimensions are {{convert|92|by|82|m|ft}}, with an area of {{convert|1.2|acre|m2}}.

It is located in an area of notoriously strong [[tide]]s. Because of this, at least three [[shipwreck]]s lie near it, making it a popular [[underwater diving|diving]] location. There is now a white beacon on the island which is used as a navigational aid if lined up with two other beacons, one on the Anglesey mainland and another on Coal Rock, an islet a mile and a half north. The area also host to species such as [[hornwrack]], [[sea squirt]]s and [[conger eel]]s. The island is part of a set of three spread out along the north coast of Anglesey. The other two islands are [[East Mouse|Ynys Amlwch]] and [[Middle Mouse|Ynys Badrig]].

The Welsh name ''Maen y Bugail'' translates into English as ''The [[Shepherd]]'s Stone''. This comes from a [[folklore]] tale in which a shepherd who was looking for his sheep was annoyed by a stone in his shoe. He took the stone out and threw it into the [[Irish Sea]], the island arising at the place in which it landed.<ref name="Hughes">Hughes, Margaret, Anglesey from the Sea, pg 85, Carreg Gwalch, 2001, {{ISBN|0-86381-698-3}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
*{{oscoor gbx|SH302942}}
{{Commons cat|West Mouse}}

{{Islands of Anglesey}}

{{coord|53|25|3.1|N|4|33|16.7|W|region:GB_type:isle|display=title}}

[[Category:Islands of Anglesey]]
[[Category:Cylch-y-Garn]]


{{Anglesey-geo-stub}}